“Being on the field just makes me feel alive,” says one of the characters featured in “Born to Play.” “I feel that’s where I’m supposed to be.” The ESPN documentary spotlights the Boston Renegades, a women’s tackle football team ranging in age from 19-49, fighting for a championship and respect.
A trailer for the project sees the unpaid athletes explaining how they have just a couple days a week with a couple hours at a time to focus on football. Still, they are determined to prove that football is for everyone, not just men. A family member recalls how one Renegades player told her, at the age of four, that she was going to be a football player when she grew up.
Despite living in a city with famously passionate sports fanbases, the women struggle to draw crowds. “Most [people] don’t know the team exists,” we’re told.
The Renegades went undefeated last season — until they lost the championship game. Now they’re determined to redeem themselves and take home the league’s top prize.
Directed by Viridiana Lieberman, “Born to Play” premieres on ESPN tonight, July 1, at 9 p.m. EST.
