Junior Cora Westbrook has been managing football teams since she was in the seventh grade, currently serving as the varsity manager for the Titans. Ever since her start in middle school, her love of the game has grown with every year. “It’s a different way to look at football, and it makes me a better player after helping coach the boy’s team,” she said.
When she is not on the sidelines, Westbrook is on a field of her own playing tackle football. However, her seasons have been hindered due to a severe kidney diagnosis: hydronephrosis. Hydronephrosis is when both or one of the kidneys swell and cause a build-up inside of them. Westbrook said, according to the doctors, if her kidney is injured it could lead to the possibility of serious injuries or death.
Even after discovering the risk of hydronephrosis, Westbrook decided to keep pursuing her love for football despite her condition. She began playing flag football on women’s and men’s teams in 4th grade and continues today.
Westbrook recently started a club for West girls to be able to play flag football — as she feels there is a need to provide equal options for all women in football. “I want other women to have opportunities, not just the seniors who do powderpuff.”
Initiative with starting her Women In Flag Football club is to, “Get in contact with other schools to start this club in other places and possibly have new scholarship money going into flag football for women in college,” Westbrook said.
Cora and her father ritually watch the Cowboys, even flying out to Dallas once a year to attend a game together. Cora’s father, Scott Westbrook, said “We had seen quite a few games at [the] Cowboys’ Stadium, and Cora said she wanted to visit all the NFL stadiums across the country. We now have 25 stadiums left to visit.”
Cora’s father said, “Multiple colleges have sought her out for interviews and tours as women’s flag football is gaining in popularity.” Cora has been offered to play Women’s NAIA flag football in college by Hesston College and Kansas Wesleyan University.
Cora aspires to gain recognition of W.I.F.F. from other schools in the metro, starting with the LSR7 district.
Junior Terrell Woods, an old teammate of Cora’s, said, “She always had a smile on her face but could also become serious about the game quickly. She made the whole team work harder.”
Cora said she wanted to keep her love for football even though she cannot play tackle anymore, and W.I.F.F. was the perfect opportunity. “It was crushing for Cora to have tackle [football] taken from her, however, it did not affect her love of the sport,” Scott Westbrook said.
Cora’s kidney has stopped her from continuing to play tackle football, but in no way has it killed her love of the sport.
Cora’s father said, “Now that she is back playing flag again, the tackle football opportunity is long in the rearview mirror. Now, she is excited to attend college as an athlete playing [flag] football. Her dream of coaching at the collegiate and professional levels is firmly intact.”
In playing such an important role for West as a manager, Cora finds herself on the sidelines for every triumph and loss, at every event a player would attend. Oftentimes, Woods said, “Other teams would say that she isn’t good enough. She would shut them up when she outran the entire team.” Her father added, “It was a great lesson for the boys to learn respect for a woman in the sport of football, but also for Cora to blaze a trail for girls in a local football program.”
Though Cora’s dream of playing tackle football has evolved into a new hope for women in sports, it has also fostered a new passion for flag football. Cora’s dad said, “It was crushing for Cora to have a tackle taken from her, however, it did not affect her love of the sport.”
Despite her health struggles and limiting gender roles, Cora has found a way to tackle any obstacle in sight to make her dream of W.I.F.F. come true.
