Sisters finally find a sport they can play together -- football
By MARCUS R. FULLER
The Kansas City Star
Posted on Sat, May. 31, 2003

Freddie Cheirs sat in the stands of J.C. Harmon high school stadium recently, proudly wearing her youngest daughter's dark-colored jersey, No. 24.

Freddie's husband, William, the same man who told their daughters Monica and Nyala growing up that football was too rough for girls, sat next to her in his oldest daughter's No. 71, letting everyone know he now supports them all the way.

Freddie gazed toward the field, watching her daughters in the full pads and uniform of the Kansas City Krunch women's semipro football team, as they clenched each other's hands in the defensive huddle.

The first time Freddie witnessed this, she thought of how unique her daughters' situation was. She thought of other siblings in sports, such as Venus and Serena Williams.

But this was football. That's something new, she thought.

One evening several months earlier, she talked to Nyala about getting on a talk show with her sister to share their experiences from playing football together.

"How about getting on Oprah?" Freddie asked.

Nyala couldn't help but laugh. But she knew her mother was serious. So, she wrote a letter that read something like this:

Dear Oprah,

I'd like to talk to you about a sport in which women are really playing a man's game and doing it well. Football. I have a sister who plays on a team with me called the Kansas City Krunch. We could really use your support. Also, a great idea for a show about siblings in sports and maybe one day we can be guests on your show.

Sincerely,

Nyala Cheirs

She has yet to hear back from Winfrey, but Nyala said writing the letter made her realize how special it was to be on the same football team with Monica.

"To see her every day on the field with me, I love it," she said. "I've never seen that side of my sister before. For me and her to work together, it's great."

III

The Cheirs sisters were close enough in age to be best friends while growing up, but not quite close enough to be on the same sports teams.

There was just one year in which Monica, four years older, could be on the same team with Nyala.

Even then it barely happened. Nyala was talented enough to make the Central High School varsity volleyball team as a freshman reserve for the last four games of the 1996 season, but she was only on the court with her sister, a senior starter, for a few moments.

That was the only sport they played together. The most time they spent together in a school activity was in the marching band. Monica led the drum line and Nyala was a trumpeter.

When Monica graduated from Central, she stayed close to home. But when Nyala graduated from high school in 1999, she chose Florida A&M to pursue her dream of becoming a college band member.

Monica was heartbroken.

"We were inseparable growing up," Monica said. "When she went away for college, I missed her severely."

Nyala couldn't take being apart either, and she returned to Kansas City after spending one year at Florida A&M.

"It was good being home," said Nyala, who transferred to Park University to play volleyball.

The sisters were close again, but there was no chance of them playing sports together. Their lives had moved on. Monica was 25 and a free-lance photographer who also works full-time for IKON document services. At 21, Nyala kept busy with intercollegiate sports, academics and trying to get internships in her major, psychology.

III

Last summer, Nyala was flipping through a local magazine when she discovered an ad about a new women's football team in Kansas City. She immediately phoned her sister.

The two arrived early to the first Krunch tryout last September. Only about 20 women showed up, but the two sessions that followed attracted more than 70 for only 50 roster spots.

"I wanted to play football, but I didn't know when or if the opportunity was going to come," said Nyala, who got support to play from her volleyball coach at Park.

Football wasn't an unknown to the two sisters. When they were 12 and eight, they cheered together at Chiefs football games as part of Derrick Thomas' Third and Long program.

"To actually see it live at that age, that's what really sparked the interest," said Monica, who got to meet her favorite player, former Chiefs defensive end Neil Smith.

The Third and Long program was geared primarily toward encouraging kids to read, but players also tried to teach football.

"They talked to us about the game, but I still didn't understand," Nyala said.

The girls wanted to play youth football, but weren't allowed. They chose other sports instead.

Nyala got into fencing as a fourth grader and once qualified to the Junior Olympics during her five years of competition.

Monica began weightlifting competitively in the seventh grade and continued until her senior year at Central. At one time, she ranked third in the country in her weight class.

But football was still on their minds.

As a freshman at Central, Nyala tried out for the football team, but quit when she was only allowed to be a kicker.

"I wanted to run the ball, but the coach wasn't going to take a chance at me getting hurt. He told me to go out for cheerleading."

Now they had a chance to play some real football.

The conditioning for the Krunch was intense, but not as difficult as adjusting to running around with an extra 10-15 pounds of helmet and pads.

"I slowly got used to wearing the helmet and the mouthpiece, but I didn't know which way the pads went," Nyala said. "Now, it's all normal, though the only thing that still bothers me is the way everything stinks from the sweat."

Monica plays on the offensive and defensive line and Nyala, who starts at cornerback, is a team captain on the defense despite being the youngest player on the team.

"I was very surprised to see how vocal Nyala was," said Krunch coach Courtney Porter, 27, who played football for the University of Missouri-Rolla and for the Chicago Enforcers in the XFL.

"Her and Monica are very enthusiastic, encouraging and hard workers," he said.

During games, the sisters are side by side, holding hands in the huddle. And before she lines up, Monica said she often looks back at her sister and nods as if to say,"Let's show them what we can do."

The first home game, April 19 against the Evansville Express, was stopped at halftime because of lightning, but the Cheirs sisters both had solid efforts.

Undersized on the defensive front, Monica recorded the first sack of her career, and Nyala returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown in a 20-0 victory.

After years of playing different sports apart, the sisters are finally displaying their athletic gifts together.

Nyala plans to stick with semipro football a couple more years until she goes to graduate school. Monica will play as long as her body lets her.

The pleasure it brings them both has been evident since the first time they stepped onto the field.

"They always enjoyed sports, but I never thought they would get into this sport together," said their father, William. "They were really tight before, but football brought them even closer."