UPDATE: Team USA won gold at the 2017 IFAF World Championship. Mois has since moved away from football and started a new fitness hobby with CrossFit.
Erica Mois will represent Team USA in June
By day, Erica Mois works hard as a Dynamics GP developer for Boyer & Associates. By night, she plays hard as a running back for women’s tackle football.
Next month she will get a chance to show off her skills on the field as part of the 2017 U.S. National Football Team. Mois, No. 23 for the Osseo-based Minnesota Machine, will play in the Women’s World Championship June 24-30 near Vancouver, B.C.
The Women’s World Championship is organized by the International Federation of American Football. This marks the third international championship for women’s tackle football. The U.S. has won the last two championships, which feature the top female athletes from six countries: USA, Finland, Great Britain, Australia, Mexico and Canada.
More than 140 players tried out for the 45 slots on the U.S. team. Mois is excited to be playing with “the best of the best.”
“I was extremely excited. I felt like I had a good chance (at tryouts), but you never know. The talent there is amazing,” she said.
Tryouts were in January, and Mois was “ecstatic” when she learned she had made the team. Like many athletes, she’d always dreamed of representing her country in the Olympics or some similar competition.
She already knows many of her teammates and is excited to play with some of the best women’s tackle football players in the world.
“The intensity level and the skill level is definitely higher,” she said.
Mois has been playing women’s tackle football since 2008. She said football has always been her favorite sport — and yes, she’s a “diehard Vikings fan.”
Her parents Derek and Cheri are her biggest fans, attending all her games along with her partner Sabrina and several extended family members.
But you’ll never hear them cheering for Erica. On the field — and off — Mois goes by “Eek,” a nickname that’s stuck since childhood when her sister first called her “Eek the Geek.”
Mois spent one year on the Minnesota Vixen before moving to the Minnesota Machine. The Minnesota Machine is part of the Women’s Football Alliance, which is comprised of 65 teams in the U.S. and Canada, and features eight games April through June.
Mois, a Blaine resident, doesn’t worry much about her stats. She simply enjoys the camaraderie of playing the game with her teammates. In fact, her love for team spirit is reflected in the games she deems most memorable.
A few years ago, the Minnesota Machine barely made the playoffs, but then rallied to win their first playoff round soundly by 35-0. The second round was much tougher and they were so plagued by injuries that they were left with only 11 players by the end of the game. They almost won despite so few players, and that makes it one of her favorite games.
“Everybody was giving it everything they had. It was a great team effort,” Mois said.
Meanwhile, back at work, Mois is a great addition to the Boyer TEAM.
“I like that its always challenging and my work is always changing. Being a developer its always something new to learn and always something new to work on,” she said.
When she’s not working or playing football, Mois loves camping and anything outdoors.