BUFFALO, N.Y. — We are celebrating our schools with an unknown story of sorts, as the Buffalo Public Schools will honor some pioneering women this weekend.
Saturday morning a New York State historic marker will be put in place at All High Stadium, celebrating a group of women who put on the helmets and pads, and broke new ground more than 50 years ago.
We know and love Buffalo as a football town, but what you may not know is that 10 years after the birth of the Bills, another group of gridiron pioneers took the field in the Queen City.
The team was organized in October of 1970 by an 18-year-old woman named Dee Dee Debone. She was following a passion to play.
Debone found out about the Women's Professional Football League, which began play in 1965, and made a pitch to play in Cleveland. The league founder Syd Friedman had a better idea. He said he would finance a team in Buffalo, if Dee Dee would organize it.
She started the team by putting an ads in the Buffalo newspapers.
One of the 100 potential players who turned out for that initial tryout was Sherrill Cooper. Like most of the others, she was athletic, but never played football. She was also unsure of the response she would get from friends and family.
So when she made the team, it was under the name Leslie Lynne. Soon her excitement turned to frustration. The team was getting attention before their first game.
The Courier Express Newspaper came out to practice to take pictures, but a little later, Sherrill was tackled, and she broke her leg. The next day she had some explaining to do with her family.
"So I come in on crutches and they say what happened? I say I fell and broke my leg. There on sports page, big picture of the Buffalo All Stars and there I am in uniform. My brother is looking at it and says 'hey dad look at this football team and that looks like Sherrill'. I go over and look and say wow, it does look like me. What's her name? Leslie Lynn. So my family didn't know until several weeks later."
She said she loved playing the game. The All Stars and the league lasted another 3 seasons, shutting down in 1973. But this weekend, these trailblazing women will be honored at the spot where they made history as the first women's professional football team in New York State.
A historic marker will be unveiled at Robert Rich Jr. All High Stadium, celebrating that historic first game. The ceremony will be followed by a girl's flag football game between Maritime Charter and Health Science Charter.
The dedication will take place at 10 am, celebrating that very first game,. Which by the way, Buffalo won. The All Stars beat the Toronto Belles 14-0.
Related Video: