For the love of the game: These were the athletes of the Queens Football League

https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/11/04/ [login to see] /queens-football-league-brought-american-football-to-the-netherlands-women
Kelly de Waard was 6 years old when she experienced her first adrenaline rush.

Her father, an avid go-kart racer, had taken Kelly and her brother, Davy, to a local track in Lelystad, Netherlands, for their first-ever drive. Kelly's father built his own karts and was keen to have his son and daughter get behind the wheel as soon as they were able.

Davy went first and crashed quickly. Then it was Kelly's turn. Before her father could stop her, she'd pressed down hard on the gas. "It didn't occur to me to slow down," she remembers. She got three-quarters of the way around the circuit before she hit the tire-wall too.

"The rush I got when I crashed that go-kart is very similar to the body hits in American football," Kelly explained. "The impact makes me feel alive."

Any sport would do — as long as it gave her that same feeling; she was hooked.