Every winter, football watchers across America tune in on Christmas Day to watch the biggest, most successful teams in the NFL play through snow and sleet. This weekend, a similar scenario occurred, although on a much smaller scale. In Lancaster, PA, the Northern Steel’s U16G team played in whipping wind and snow.  

On Saturday, December 9th, eighteen girls from Butler County woke up at nine in the morning to mentally and physically prepare for their upcoming game. By 10:30, most of the parents had dragged their children into cars to shuttle them to the game. A light flurry of snow had started peacefully by then, not yet betraying its full force. One by one the cars pulled into the parking lot, and one by one teammates got out and trudged to the field. Snow had started falling more rapidly, stinging faces and wrists. Northern Steel Nitro had armed themselves against the cold as much as they could, wearing fleece-lined shirts and leggings.  

Their warmups consisted activating hand warmers and staying warm. The actual game was exciting, with Northern Steel winning 1-0. The wind and snow stinging their faces could not keep them from commanding the field with their voices as well as their talent with the ball. The team had an assortment of different plays they used to get the ball up the field.  

There were some setbacks, however. The referees had more than a few questionable calls on both sides, and these calls caused the prevention of four or five protentional goals, most for Nitro.  

The game came to a close after eighty minutes of playing, and every girl rushed to the car. It was a fun game, but it pushed the limits of what are playable conditions and at are not. It called into question how far players were willing to go to win. In this case, these girls were more than happy to compete if it meant a victory.