What’s it Like to Be a 41-Year-Old Champion Linebacker With Three Kids?

41 year-old linebacker Jen Olivieri. Photo: Getty Images

I saw my first women’s football game on TV a few weeks ago, it was the Women’s Football Alliance championship final, and I was riveted. Jen Olivieri, the linebacker playing for the Boston Militia, particularly caught my attention. She isn’t just aggressive and fast, she’s also a 41-year old mom of three. I immediately wanted to find out more about her.

It turns out the blond, Massachusetts mom has been paving the way for female football players since she was ten. In the early ‘80s, Olivieri signed up for Pop Warner football with her hometown buddies from Hull; the coaches told her to try out for cheerleading instead. Jen and her mom fought the league to allow her to play with the boys. Fast-forward 15 years later and Jen, already a mom of two, had a secure spot on a full-contact women’s team in the Independent Football League. In 2009, she became the first female in the state to serve as a youth football head coach.

In August, Olivieri and the Boston Militia won the WFA championships (her third). Beyond all of her success, Jen is really funny and down-to-earth. Her tough, badass, pioneering side makes her even cooler.

BB: Hi Jen!I just watched your championship game and it was the first time that I had ever seen women’s football. I was glued to the TV.

JO: Did you like it?

BB: I loved it. I was fascinated—and mostly enthralled with you I have to say. My friend Chloe told me that you are 41, the mom of three, and very competitive. I was like “OK I have to interview her!” So tell me about yourself.

JO: I have played for 14 years, but I actually tore my ACL during that championship game, so now I am definitely retired. That was my third championship, so I am very happy because I have three children and I wanted a ring for each of them.

BB: How did you get started and why football?

JO: I was actually the first girl in Massachusetts to play Pop Warner football. I lived in a neighborhood full of boys. I was hanging out with all the boys in town and when Pop Warner came to my town I signed up not thinking anything of it. The teacher was like, “No. You need a cheerleading form.” And I said, “No I don’t.”  I ended up playing, but it was a big controversy at the time.

BB: Were you a tomboy?

JO: Oh totally! But I played and I had the support of my teammates. Then I ended up breaking my leg a few years later, so I stopped that because then I was going into high school.

BB: Did you play football again?

JO: When I was in my twenties, after I had my second child and my friends asked if I had heard about the new women’s football league, I tried out. I have been playing ever since.

Jen Olivieri tackling an opponent

BB: That’s amazing! What hurdles do you think you’ve faced being a woman in such a male dominated sport?

JO:  Well right now I actually coach my son’s team and I have four assistant male coaches. We were just at the game and the ref walks right past me and says to the guys, “Head coach, are we ready to play?” They all looked at me and said, “She’s the head coach.” So I asked him if he just walked by me because I was a woman. I had a coaching shirt on!

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BB: When did you decide that you wanted to play for the Boston Militia?

JO: Originally I tried out for a team called the New England Storm and I was really nervous and scared. I was looking around at all these women. You can’t judge a book by its cover, because a lot of them looked like body builders, really athletic and scary. But athleticism doesn’t come out in the way you look. Just because you are big doesn’t mean you run fast or know what you are doing. I just knew how to play already.

BB: How tall are you?

JO: I am 5’9. People look at me, and when I say I am an outside linebacker, they laugh their heads off because I am pretty thin and smaller than a linebacker should be.

BB: So how does that affect your game?

JO: It doesn’t! I am mentally tough, and that is all you need. You need heart and you need to be mentally tough.

Jen Olivieri in action

BB: How do you prepare for the season?

JO: I actually own a boot camp with my girlfriends. So I just go to the gym and I just try to keep up with speed and agility drills.

BB: Are you as confident off the field as you seem to be on it?

JO: [Laughs] Yeah.

BB: Who do you think is responsible for giving you this confidence?

JO: My mother. She was my cheerleader as a kid and fighting for women’s equality to play, so she is all for it. She loves it.

BB: And how about your kids, how do they feel about their mom playing football?

JO: They do not ever want me to stop playing, they just love saying, “My mom plays football!” I think they are really proud of me. It’s tough for me to say I am retiring when they are like, “Mom please don’t!”

Jen Olivieri and her three children Ariel, Christian, and Ben

BB: You said you were retired before, do you think you are really going to do this?

JO: Yeah, I had knee surgery. I wasn’t supposed to play again with one knee because I actually need a partial knee replacement, but I played anyway. Now I need surgery on my other leg, so I would definitely not be able to play this upcoming season.

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BB: Does your husband play too? How does he feel about his wife the football star?

JO: He grew up in the same town, but he actually didn’t play football. I played with all of his friends! No one in my neighborhood even bats an eye or thinks anything about me playing football. He’s supported me throughout so it’s been awesome. When I had my second son, I had to go to mini-camp for a whole weekend when the baby was six weeks old. I was still breastfeeding and my poor husband was home with three kids, one who was on the bottle for the first time and he was just awesome. He is completely supportive.

BB: What is it like being a part of a team at 41 and hanging out with all these cool women?

JO: It is like a family, that’s what I am going to miss the most about playing. At my age, who is really part of team anymore? Especially where you just get to do cool stuff like travel around the United States and play.

BB: What do you think it would take for a woman to play in the NFL? Is that even physically possible?

JO: I don’t know—we just aren’t as big. But hopefully, instead of watching paintball fights on ESPN2, we can watch women’s football instead.

BB: I think that is a good goal. You are so cool and you keep setting records. It’s really inspiring. What would you say to young girls who want to play football?

JO: I would say don’t be afraid to play football and don’t listen to any adversity surrounding you. I think some girls are afraid of joining an all-boys team and not wanting to be the only girl, but you are accepted immediately. It’s a team. And most teams of boys—especially young boys—don’t care at all. They just want to play. If you want to do it, try it!