Kelsey Martinez: the woman who changes NFL
Although she is not the first woman to work in the aforementioned event, the Mexican-American will work as a coaching assistant in the Oakland Raiders
Women continue to gain space in the sports world, even in competitions that have been designed for men. The National Football League (NFL) is a good example of that. Being a purely masculine event, women's have earned a space, not as players, but as coaches or in departments of physical adaptation.
Leer en español: Kelsey Martínez: la mujer que revoluciona la NFL
The most recent case is represented by Kelsey Martinez , 26, of Mexican descent, who was hired in March by the Oakland Raiders, under the charge of strength and conditioning assistant. The official website of the team said that the players were not even surprised by the signature of the woman, and, in fact, they assumed that she was very prominent in her work.
"When we found out, we thought she had to be a very good physical coach for Jon Gruden to hire her," quarterback Derek Carr said. "She has been very good at working with the players. I have not heard any complaint. She is very intelligent. She knows her stuff, and I think that's why she is respected," he added to the aforementioned page.
Martinez serves as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. But that is not accidental. It has been built. In recent seasons, she was working in Florida with his counterpart Tom Shaw, also of the Raiders, and three team players such as Bruce Irvin, Justin Elli, and James Cowser.
"Actually, I'm doing the same," Martinez said. "I only work with the NFL, so that part has not changed, but seeing people for whom I am an inspiration is very important," reflects Raiders.com. The trainer is recognized as a very modest person and even, almost without wanting to, she starts to be a role model, at least for the daughter of the runner Jemal Singleton.
"Having this situation here, I do not know if it's the first or only, but having a conditioning coach like Kelsey is amazing. Because now my daughter can see that there are many different roles in this place. You can listen to Beth Mowins narrating the games, you can see Kelsey working with the players and those are things that as a dad you want your daughter can aspire to what she wants to be," Singleton explained in the same article.
She is originally from Pueblo, Colorado, although its ancestors are Mexican. Martinez specialized in high performance training in the special program of the aforementioned Tom Shaw. According to Mexico.com, Kelsey accumulates experience as a coach for other sports, since she has worked with Major League Baseball to improve speed, agility and speed.
You may be interested to read: The Strongest of Bolivia: The players take this traditional club
Started with softball
Her passion for sports has taken her to where she is, although being respected for her position in the NFL was not something that would take away her sleep. That aforementioned passion was initially reflected in softball, but once she stopped playing she continued to look for ways to expand his experience in the sports industry while she finished his university studies. Martinez, was a softball planter at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. She also studied Exercise Science at the Colorado State University , according to Viveusa.mx.
"I always wanted to work in sports and that's why I chose softball as a sport, because I wanted to be outside all the time, that is, I hated being indoors, " the woman told Raiders.com, and sentenced "That was the most important thing, but when I got to the university and I did not play anymore, I had to find a way to be close to the athletes and that was my way of following what I wanted to do . "
Orgullosos de Kelsey Martínez, la primera mujer que es parte del cuerpo técnico de entrnadores de los @Raiders. Ella es la primera mujer-y latina-encargada de fuerza y acondicionamiento físico.
https://t.co/9DPULubdFU— Embajada EU en Mex (@USEmbassyMEX) 9 de agosto de 2018
The first four that made history
According to ViveUsa.mx, the pioneer woman in this NFL environment was Lee Brandon in 1990 with the New York Jets. It took many years for women to have some level of empowerment in the NFL, and it was not until 2015 that Jen Welter appeared with the Arizona Cardinals. In 2016 it was the turn of Kathryn Smith with the Buffalo Bills, and then in 2017 Kathie Sowers with the San Francisco 49ers.
The same article also says that Oakland Raiders is a traditionally innovative team in their hiring because they acquired the first Hispanic technician in the league, Tom Flores, in 1979. In 1989 they again broke paradigms with Art Shell, who was the first African-American in direct in the league. Now, faithful to that characteristic, they are made with the services of Martinez.
In Mexico.com they say that the aforementioned Kathryn Smith was the first full-time coach in the league, in the 16-17 edition . The Bills and their head coach, Rex Ryan, thought of her to be in charge of the quality control department for special teams. But at the end of the season, all were fired and no one knew more about Smith.
Reveals Mexico.com that Kathie Sowers entered the 18-19 to her third year in the NFL and second with the 49s. His first experience had been with the Atlanta Falcons as a practitioner and under the orders of attack coordinator Kyle Shanahan. Something Shanahan saw in Sowers, who took it with him to his new team: the 49ers. In addition, she is the first assistant coach in the openly gay NFL.
How do i do it?
Martínez broke the barriers of race and gender in his history in March and, according to Vanguardia.com, is an example of how work ethics can open opportunities in a world as competitive as the NFL. The same newspaper added that Martinez considers Shaw as a father figure. "He treats me like a daughter, he's the closest thing to a father figure to me."
But beyond that protection, Martinez has earned everything with work. The player James Cowser attributes the merit of perfecting his sprinting technique, which now records better times. Vanguardia remembers textually that " once in Orlando, she observed her movement and suggested that she concentrate on pushing more to the ground with her feet when she exploded to run."
LatinAmerican Post | Onofre Zambrano
Translated from: 'Kelsey Martínez: la mujer que revoluciona la NFL'
