EHS Grad Melissa Bernasconi Takes the Field with the Seattle Mist in the Lingerie Football League

Football over the years has long been viewed as a game just for guys, but not anymore.

Enumclaw native and class of 2008 graduate Melissa Bernasconi, 22, who stands at 5 feet 3 inches tall, didn't let being one of the smaller players at a Seattle Mist tryout deter her from breaking through a 20-person contender pool and onto the 2011 Seattle Mist Lingerie Football Football League squad where she plays tight end and safety. The overall number of girls who tried out for the Seattle Mist was around 200 or so, said Bernasconi.

The Lingerie Football League is played seven-on-seven on a 50-yard field, with the uniform being bras and boyshorts to go along with helmets and shoulder pads.

This journey for Bernasconi began harmlessly when a manager at the gym she works out at told her about the opportunity. Bernasconi did have an athletic background playing fastpitch softball for Enumclaw High School and in 2009 she made the all-NWAACC squad as an outfielder for Green River Community College's fastpitch team.

"One of the coaches of the Seattle Mist works out at the same gym I do and he mentioned to the manager that they were looking for good-looking girls who could play football," Bernasconi said. "I had never played it but had been around it from my ex-boyfriend and cousin playing it."

When the tryout day occurred Bernasconi was up against 19 other girls in the last tryout before the final roster was to be set for the bootcamp portion of the Seattle Mist preseason. Though she wasn't the biggest player on the field, Bernsconi was able to channel her nerves into success in making the bootcamp squad.

"I was super nervous," she said. "It was also a long wait to find out if I made the team. Once I got the call at work that I made the bootcamp, I was excited."

After surviving the bootcamp to make the 20-player roster for the season, the long grinding journey of practice began for the Mist. The team has come together and and is determined to reach the Lingerie Bowl, she said.

"We are a very close family, everybody has each other's back," Bernasconi said. "In practice, everybody is focused, and we really push each other."

The Mist started off the season on Sept. 30 with a 42-8 pounding of the expansion Green Bay Chill in Green Bay and have their home opener coming up Nov. 4 at the Showare Center in Kent against the Vegas Sin.

Bernasconi is excited about being in front of her family and friends for the upcoming home opener.

"My family has backed me up totally," Bernasconi said in reference to her pursuing Lingerie Football. "It's going to be awesome (on Nov. 4) to play Vegas in front of family and friends."

Moreover, Bernasconi enjoys the competitive nature of the sport, for those who may not have seen the sport live or on MTV2.

"It is football -- it's a game of inches." she said.

The Seattle Mist will play their home opener at the Showare Center in Kent on Friday, Nov. 4 against the expansion Vegas Sin. Start time is 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on MTV2.