'We’re playing our own game': Meet the women lacing up for the Denver Bandits
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AURORA, Colo. — Ky Von Borries always wanted to play tackle football.
Von Borries, who is six feet tall, was just as strong as boys her age growing up. She proved she could hold her own in the backyard football games she played in her St. Louis, Missouri neighborhood.
“I played just about every sport under the sun, but my mom didn’t want me to play football because she claimed the boys would outgrow me,” Von Borries, 22, said. “Most of them never did outgrow me.”
Von Borries is a proud member of the offensive line for the Denver Bandits, a women’s tackle football team that is one of 17 teams across the United States that make up the Women’s National Football Conference.
“Playing football really gives me a place where I can use my size to my advantage and really feel confident in my size, my strength and my body,” Von Borries said.
The Bandits formed in 2018 with 20 women, most of whom were brand new to football. The team has grown every year and currently has 40 players. The team practices two to three times a week for their monthly games around the country.
“The most unique part is that it’s tackle,” said Amber Craft, Bandits co-chair. “Flag is gaining some popularity but tackle is largely still a man’s game.”
Craft views the Bandits’ rising popularity as part of a broader surge of enthusiasm for women’s sports, both in Colorado and across the country. In 2024, the National Women’s Soccer League announced plans to bring a new team to Denver. The team plans to build a dedicated stadium in the Baker neighborhood, and the city is considering allocating $70 million for the surrounding infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Professional Women’s Hockey League made its Denver debut in January, and the city is also in the running to host a future franchise.
Denver’s first dedicated women’s sports bar — The 99ers — opened on Colfax and Emerson in December.
“People’s minds are open to women’s sports as just as serious as men’s sports,” Craft said.
Elizabeth Engledrum said she gets a lot of questions when she wears her Bandits shirt around town. She said people are confused when she tells them it's a tackle football league.
“People seem interested. It’s just such a new concept for a lot of folks,” Engledrum said.
Engledrum, 38, plays running back and linebacker for the Bandits. She likes the team camaraderie and how the game challenges her mind in a different way than her day job as an aerospace engineer.
“There’s a lot of everyone trying to get better and trying to help each other get better,” Engledrum said.
Engledrum grew up playing sports. She played rugby in college at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. Football feels similar to rugby, but with more padding and more thinking, she said.
Craft said she often hears women’s sports aren’t as engaging to watch as men’s sports. But she doesn’t see the two as a competition with each other. Craft recognizes men’s sports can feel more aggressive, and thus, engaging, but also believes women’s sports deploy more thoughtful strategy.
“Don’t compare us to NFL players because we’re playing our own game,” Craft said. “Our strategy, our speed, our agility are all equally as impressive, they’re just different.”
Markell Marquez, now in her second year as a linebacker for the Bandits, believes women’s sports are even more impressive than men’s. Raised in Hawaii, she said she grew up surrounded by strong, athletic women who inspired her to pursue any sport she set her sights on.
“There are a lot of people who don’t think that women can do what men can do, so I feel like we’re really showing them that not only can we do what men can do, we can do it even better,” Marquez said.
Marquez’ family had sports playing on their TV around-the-clock when she was growing up. She played basketball and soccer throughout her childhood, and backyard football with her cousins felt just as legit as any organized league.
Marquez said a Bandits recruiter, interested in her athletic build, approached her at Colorado Mills mall in 2024. Two weeks later, Marquez, 26, joined the team.
“I like that I can use my anger for good,” Marquez said.
Marquez hopes to play with the Bandits for as long as her body allows. The sport has brought her friendships, an outlet to express her emotions and an activity to look forward to after long days working as a cashier.
“For any little girls out there, never let anyone tell you you can’t do anything,” Marquez said. “Especially football.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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