VICENZA, Italy – When Sgt. Alexandra Denzinger stopped by the Java Café this week on Caserma Ederle to chat with her friend Carli Fickes-Freshour, one topic was on their mind – flag football.
Both women play on the Vicenza West Wolves, one of four all-female teams playing in an on-post flag football league. This season’s opening games coincide this week with Women’s Equality Day, Aug. 26.
Denzinger, a medical noncommissioned officer with 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Battalion, grew up an avid Seahawks fan in the Seattle suburb of Lake Tapps
“I watch a lot of football, but I’ve never had the opportunity to play,” said Denzinger, who is the West Wolves’s quarterback and also defensive safety.
Fickes-Freshour, whose hyphenated name eludes to her take on women’s equality – “you don’t just need to have the man’s name,” she says – works at the café and is also one of three team captains. Her infantryman husband also serves in the 2-503rd and encouraged Denzinger to join.
“I’ve known for Carli for two weeks and I come in now and hang out every day, it’s been working out pretty well,” Denzinger said. “We’ve had multiple practices time to meet the players, the coach and just get coordinated and build some chemistry with the team.”
On Aug. 26, the U.S. Army joins the nation in celebrating Women’s Equality Day. The date comes from the 1920 ratification of the Constitution’s 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women’s right to vote. In Vicenza, the football season began under a sweltering summer sun.
U.S. Army Garrison Italy recently opened a brand new football field on Caserma Del Din. Initiatives like this, coordinated by the garrison’s directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation are designed to help Soldiers and family members to build strong and resilient communities that support the U.S. Army mission in Italy. For Denzinger, having access to flag football has done just that.
“It’s been amazing. It gives me something to look forward to, not the same (physical training) each day, same job,” Denzinger said. “I get to look forward to seeing my friends, play a sport, learn some new things and have some fun and be outside.”
Fickes-Freshour, 25, of Deltona, Fla., was glad when earlier this year, women’s flag football emerged with a garrison team began playing with an Italian team from Ferrara and another team from Aviano Air Base. She hadn’t played the game since high school. Now, the West Wolves have become like family, she said.
“I was here for two years before flag football and I’ve never made friends so quickly, people who I can depend on and make me want to be better as a person and in sports,” Fickes-Freshour said. “It’s been really great.”
Spc. Tyana Lewis,a Soldier assigned to the 207th Military Intelligence Brigade (Theater), also plays on a local team called the Yellowjackets. She enjoys competition in a sport where she’s also able to form long-lasting connections.
“It’s been a great opportunity to meet so many cool ladies outside of my organization and they’re all really strong,” Lewis said. “It’s been so fun.”
Later that evening, under a hot summer sun, Denzinger threw two touchdown passes – one was to Fickes-Freshour. They won their game 14-0.
Denzinger brings an air of competitiveness, that the teams already had – but is unlocked even more, Fickes-Freshour said.
“Our team performed amazingly,” Fickes-Freshour said.
In 1948, the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act granted women the right to serve as permanent, regular members of all branches of the U.S. military. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Defense lifted a ban on women serving in combat jobs. More than 1.3 million female active-duty members now serve in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.
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