TT Thursday : Toni Harris earns first football scholarship for skilled position; my weight loss challenge week 38

As people have said they liked the inspiring stories and would like more, today we have Toni Harris, a young woman who is making headlines this week.

 

(Toyoto Superbowl ad)

Long after being kicked off the Little League Football Team at age 6, refusing to take no for an answer even after being kicked off the football team again in middle school, Toni Harris became the first female footballplayer in a Toyota Superbowl Commercial, seen driving a car for Toyota. She followed up this past week, after choosing between several offers, by becoming the first woman to sign a letter of intent accepting a football scholarship for a skilled position at a university.  In 2017, Becca Longo received a football scholarship for the kicker position.  Now we have a woman who will be playing defense.

(Today Show, video published on youtube February 27, 2017)

For the last two years, Harris has been playing football for a community college.  She was the first female football player for East Los Angeles College, playing defense as a free safety while maintaining her position as an honors students.

Harris has not had the easiest life. She went into foster care at age 4 and was not adopted until she was 13.  During this time she loved football but had a problem finding a team she could play for in Detroit because they were sticking to the all-boys rule so when she got kicked out of football, she went into gymnastics and cheerleading.  Still she never gave up on football. When Today show asked her why football, she said”Watching my cousin when I was younger about 4 years old, I’d seen like all the passion and competition and the love everybody had for each other… I tried it and I fell in love with it.  I chose defense because defense is more exciting than anything else.”(Today Show, video published on youtube February 27, 2017) In high school, the coach gave her a chance and she proved herself on the field.  She said, ““I’m getting a little emotional about…the fact that he gave me a chance and believed in me, it put so much joy in my heart.”  (Los Angeles CBS, Oct. 13, 2017).  She was also nominated homecoming queen at her high school.

Planning to play football in college, Harris’s life took a turn.  At age 18 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, at stage one, and lost half her body weight.  “My family helped me stay grounded, and my faith,” Harris said of staying strong during her cancer recovery. “I did want to give up, I thought things were over because it’s like you take two steps forward and you get stepped back five more steps. So you kind of want to give up on those things. When you don’t have a background of people supporting you and you’re dealing with it on your own at first, it gets hard. You just want to give up on it but I constantly had my friends… I had my mom and them praying for me and my pastor praying for me … I said, ‘You know what? I’ve fought through everything else in my life.’” (Today Show, video published on youtube February 27, 2017)

Harris fought back her cancer into remission and afterwards found a community college that was willing to accept her on their football team if she passed muster. She said, “In high school the guys weren’t too fond of me playing but they warmed up to me. When I got to college, it was surprising.  My teammates had already warmed up to me… They were like my second family.” (Today Show, video published on youtube February 27, 2017) The Huskies coach Bobby Godinez said, “When she first approached me… naturally I was a little nervous… I didn’t want anybody getting hurt.” Godinez said. “She’s earned everybody’s respect… her resilience, her perseverance, everything that she kind of encompasses, kinda bled through into everybody, after that we said we gotta get her on the field .” (Los Angeles CBS, October 13, 2017)

While Harris heads off to university, she has her eyes set on the next field beyond that: the NFL.  She would love to play for the Seattle Seahawks.  If not her, Harris hopes she paved the road for some little girl watching now.

References:

This Woman Tackles Every Obstacle In Life
Los Angeles CBS, October 13, 2017

Female College Football Player Gets Full Football Scholarship After Cancer Battle
by Helen Murphy, People Magazine, February 27, 2019

Toni Harris Makes History with Football Scholarship
by Jessica Bennett, Ebony, February 28, 2019

From foster Care to football scholarship, a gridiron phenom sets her sights on the NFL
Women in the World, February 27, 2019

Antoinette Harris Just Made History With Full College Football Scholarship
Because of them we can, February 27, 2019

Toni Harris Just Made History as One of the First Women Awarded a Football Scholarship
by Abby Gardner, Glamour, February 27, 2019

Weight Loss Challenge Week 38

I lost another pound this week and hit 198.7 and am fluctuating between that and 201.7.  It’s still a struggle because I had had hoped to be down to goal weight of 197.6 so I lost another challenge this week. I did not lose 12.6 pounds which would have been the 6% loss for three months.  However, it is important for me to remember I did lose 11.5 lbs in three months which is 5.5% loss.  It is vital when you are moving toward a difficult goal that if you don’t reach that goal at the designated time, you still pay attention to the progress you did make.  I did start at 252.1 and have now lost a total of 53.4 pounds doing the HealthyWage challenges (I am an affiliate for HealthyWage because I like them and studies prove people with a little financial incentive to lose weight have a significantly higher percentage of success. Worked for me.)

Also, I’ve been thinking about it and realized I am doing better than I thought. My car is still working.  Yay!  But in the past when I’ve gone from no car to car, I gained 10 pounds within two months due to the drop in exercise.  The bus takes more time and I have to walk a half mile to the closest one.  I don’t like the time a bus costs compared to a car but the bus has its compensations : exercise and reading time while riding.  I didn’t just exercise on the way to the bus stop.  I often did stretches and other exercises while I was waiting too.  So what I realized is that I didn’t gain the 10 pounds that I always gain when I start using a car to go everywhere.  I am doing better than I thought.  Still I’m not at 197.6 which is what I wanted.  I will shoot for it next Wednesday so hopefully next Thursday I will have good news on that front.

Now that I can get to places easier and faster, I have to start a new routine where I incorporate exercise (walking) into my life to make up for the walking I no longer do to the bus. I think the best thing for me since I like photography, is find a safe place to leave my car and start doing 1-3 mile walkabouts shooting urban pics.  I’ve mapped one out for tomorrow.  I plan to park at a library and then do a two-mile walk.

 

Current challenges

name	end date	goal	expected	ontrack?
WeightLoss Takeoff	3/3	197.6	197.7	no
Shrinking Scales	3/6	193.5	194.1	no
New Year’s Slimdown	3/26	189.8	193.1	no
Get Lean in 2019	3/27	189.8	193.3	no
Motivation Masters Jackpot Challenge	5/1	192.4	201.1	yes
Healthy & Happy Jackpot Challenge	5/5	192.4	201.7	yes
Healthy Wager	6/4	187.1	204.0	yes

These are my past awarded challenges

My past HealthyWage challenges. (Net winnings doesn’t include Paypal charges to move the money into my bank)

name	end date	goal	lost	bet	won	net winnings
Pound Droppers	2/27/19	197.6	11.5 lbs	$20/mo	$0	$0
Winter Winners	2/20/19	197.6	9.0 lbs	$20/mo	$0	$0
Scale Watcher	1/16/19	202.3	12.9 lbs	$20/mo	$103.05	$43.05
Healthier Holiday	1/6/19	202.3	12.9 lbs	$20/mo	$105.67	$45.67
Big Buck Losers	1/2/19	202.3	12.9 lbs	$33.33/mo	$155.25	$50.25
Falling Pounds	12/26/18	206.7	13.2 lbs	$20/mo	$111.86	$51.86
Big Losers	12/3/18	209.7	13.4 lbs	$33.33/mo	$143.25	$43.25
Poundshedders	12/3/18	209.7	13.4 lbs	$20/mo	$96.59	$36.59
Going for Goal	11/9/18	219.7	14 lbs	$20/mo	$92.94	$32.94
Slimming & Winning	8/27/18	237	15.1lbs	$20/mo	$151.40	$91.40
Totals			53.4 lbs	$680	$960.01	$280.01

I am also an affiliate for Amazon: “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”