Claudia Darland-Jonas grew up as an athlete. She attended Madison High School in San Diego, played field hockey and volleyball, and graduated in 1973. Her younger brothers had introduced her to coed family football, but there wasn’t much chance for her to play against other girls. The only opportunity was the annual Powder Puff flag football game at the high school.

Football for Women

In 1975, Claudia was working and attending Mesa College in San Diego. She came across an ad for tryouts with the San Diego Lobos, a newly formed women’s professional football team. This was real football with pads, helmets, blocking and tackling. Women would play against women only. She was very excited and made plans to attend the tryouts. Her mom and dad were not as enthused at first;   they had visions of their daughter packing on unsightly pounds so that she could hit people with authority. When it became apparent that Claudia was serious and that the Lobos were legitimate, they too became excited and got behind her.

When Claudia showed up for the tryouts, there were hundreds of women raring to go. At 5’4”, she was pretty average in size. The women ranged in height from 5’1” to 5’8” and in weight from 105 lbs. to 230 lbs. Some had wonderful athletic ability and others seemingly had none. The Lobos would have a roster of 30 players with another 10-20 on the taxi squad. Claudia made the team as a defensive end but was later switched to outside linebacker.

The team practiced at Marian Catholic High School in South San Diego. Claudia was very impressed with the brand new equipment that owners Helen Moore and John Mulkey, Jr., had provided. Money was always an issue in the National Women’s Football League. The owners had to ante up $10,000 for the franchise fee and had an operating budget of $50,000. The women were paid $25 per game. Game tickets cost $4 for adults, $2 for children and $1 for military. Revenue sources were limited.

In their inaugural season of 1975, the Lobos went 4-1-1. Their only loss came in the final game of the season when the other team scored the winning touchdown with 49 seconds left. In 1976, financial problems forced the owners to have the women play for free. To save money, all four games were played against the Los Angeles Dandelions. The team folded in 1977.

Claudia only played in 1975 because she had to move on with her education. However, she had fun and some unique experiences because of football. The very first Lobos game was televised by Channel 39 in San Diego. She and some teammates were on the Mike Douglas Show where they met Hall of Fame NFL players Dick Butkus and Larry Csonka. In 1980, she and a friend, former teammate Patricia Freeman, got to be part of a women’s football team in a made-for-television movie called the Oklahoma City Dolls. Claudia certainly got her fifteen minutes of fame.

Breaking with the past

The most enduring part of Claudia’s football experience was the chance to play the game. She loves football and she and her husband have Chargers season tickets. She also has more than a little knowledge of what linebackers are doing on the field. Female athletes of the 1960s and 1970s had little opportunity for big time sports. In those days, it was assumed that girls could not handle the rigors of physical competition and had little interest in it. Title IX started the ball rolling in 1972 and women finally got a chance. The explosion of women at the Lobos tryouts was an affirmation that women wanted to experience the joy of football, too. They showed up even though many of them had no training or skills. They just wanted to play.

Women’s sports in the 21st century are booming. There are professional football leagues, professional basketball, professional soccer and more. Colleges offer thousands of athletic scholarships to young women. It’s a cornucopia of opportunity that was made possible by the young women who put up with the verbal abuse and stares of a disapproving public. I’m sure Claudia feels a little young to be called a pioneer, but she and the others like her blazed a trail for the love of sport.

     These days, Claudia limits her "hitting" to golf balls.

Del Vogel
November 18, 2008

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