Liz McSpedon

Liz McSpedon had a relatively short but no less memorable time with the Lions. A winger out of SUNY New Paltz with oodles of speed and a knack for fearless tackles, be it on the pitch or the sidewalk, she was a pivotal part of the Lions squad that captured the D II National Championship in 2002. Regrettably, McSpedon’s hard-nosed ways caught up to her, and Liz, who played basketball, volleyball and track while growing up in Yonkers, was forced to step off the pitch due to injuries. Now 29, she teaches high school physical education and coaches tennis in the Bronx – and ponders a possible return to the pitch.

A PINT WITH: So are you done playing?
LIZ MCSPEDON: Yeah. I’m kind of sad about it, but I’m done. Every time I got hurt, I’d come back and play, and after a while, I realized my game wasn’t getting any better. I started playing rugby in 1996, and I never got hurt until playing with the Lions. Since I joined the Lions, I had a whole string of bad luck. I had the best time of my life, but I had bad luck. Two weeks after joining the club, I knocked my front teeth out.

APW: Playing rugby?
LM: Mmmm, not really. I’d played in a tournament, and then went away with my boyfriend at the time to Fire Island. I was really revved up, and while we were walking home from a bar, I thought it’d be really funny if I tackled him on the sidewalk. So I broke my teeth tackling my 6’ 2”, 200-pound boyfriend on the sidewalk.

APW: Did you at least bring him down?
LM: Of course!

APW: What else happened to you?
LM: I picked back up in spring 2001 and had a fantastic season. I was loving it, but…then I broke my back in the summer of 2002 at Saranac Lake. Back in the day, I’d tackle anybody. I tackled this girl who was huge – I think it was the Ottawa Indians, and she was the biggest girl on the team. I tackled her straight on, really low. She flew right over me and landed on top of me. So I landed with my legs straight out in front of me, and she landed on my shoulders, and folded me in half. My friends on the other side of the field heard the crunch.

I went for physical therapy until spring, and we were at a tournament in DC – the Cherry Blossom, some crap like that. I came in at wing at halftime, and literally was in the game 30 seconds when I got the ball, ran, dove headfirst into the try zone and scored. For half a second, I was like, Yes! Then this girl dove at me, a late tackle, and snapped my collarbone. I had half a second of glory, and then there I was, knocked out.

I came back and played the following fall, and realized I’m not getting better. Coming back from those kinds of injuries, taking time off…My assets were, I was fast and fit. Then I was no longer fast and fit.

APW: Did you lose your nerve at all?
LM: Not really. After my collarbone, I started wearing shoulder pads, and that worked. I played a few more games, then sprained my knee and couldn’t walk. I’m a phys ed teacher, and I have a hundred kids in some of my classes -- I have to be able to walk. I happened to really, really love my job, and was like, I don’t want to take risks where I put my job in jeopardy.

APW: Can you envision a scenario where you might come out again?
LM: Yeah, I could. Maybe.

APW: Do you still come out socially with the Lions?
LM: Ya know, I haven’t been. I used to go out with them all the time. It saved my life years ago, getting out of a bad relationship, just having something to do -- Paula, Becca, Susan, etc. I’m just real consumed with working and some other things I do outside out of work right now.

APW: Where is your school?
LM: The Pelham Parkway-Morris Park area of the Bronx.

APW: Is it ghetto?
LM: We’re on the Top 10 Most Violent School list in New York City, but I don’t think it’s a violent school – it’s somewhere between ghetto and normal.

APW: You don’t feel like you’re in danger?
LM: Well, I’ve been there almost two years, and two of my female colleagues have been punched by male students. But I really don’t feel like I’m in danger. They can sense when you’re afraid, so it’s all about making eye contact and showing them you’re not intimidated by them -- even though they can tell I’m not from the ghetto.

They’re really nice kids though. The school is very diverse – there are lots of first and second-generation kids from all over the world – African-American, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Albanian, Yugoslavian. Half the tennis team is from Ghana. They’re the nicest kids -- very happy, singing and dancing around, and with very dark skin – they scare the crap out of the prep-school kids that come to play them. It’s hysterical.

APW: Can you toss around ghetto slang?
LM: I’m really horrible at it, with my white-girl grammar and pronunciation.

APW: Have you tried to teach rugby in your classes?
LM: I haven’t, but if I stay there, I might. They have a really big football program there, so I wonder if rugby would step on their toes. But I think I’d definitely like to start rugby.

Quick Facts:

• Hometown: Yonkers, NY
• Occupation: Physical education teacher -- Columbus HS, Bronx
• Favorite Beer: Guinness
• “The O.C.” or “Desperate Housewives”: Can't stand either
• Most Valuable Teammate: I really can't choose. So many are inspiring to me on and off the pitch. In a selfish way, I appreciate people like Katie Pisano, Erin Martschenko, and Lara Larson who were great at reading the defense and timing some perfect passes which created scoring opportunities.
• Best Lions Memory: Beating Ithaca in Albany to win the Division II Northeast Championship for the first time, which lead to us winning Nationals. Christian Averill took some fantastic photos of that game and to this day, I look at them and remember how amazing it felt. People may forget that the Lions women didn't really get a lot of respect from other clubs in the union back them. That was our turning point.