Ex-Wildcats basketball player Ashley Whisonant focused on winning gold medal … in flag football

Most UA women’s basketball fans remember Ashley Whisonant as a speedy, tough-minded point guard who earned MVP and defensive MVP honors during the 2007-08 season.

Few know that she tears it up on the gridiron, too.

Whisonant is a two-time member of Team USA’s women’s flag football team. Earlier this month, Whisonant, 34, was named to the 2021 U.S. National Women’s Flag Football Team. It will be her second run with team, after her first resulted in Team USA’s first-ever title in the sport.

“I love, love, love to compete. I enjoy running up against the best of the best and showing them what I’ve got,” Whisonant said. “I also love the team aspect and the camaraderie. Hanging out afterwards, trash talking and everything like that.”

Whisonant got her start in football during her final months at the UA.

“I stayed an extra semester to finish up some classes and I was looking for something to do,” Whisonant said. “Arizona had a tackle women’s football team, so a friend and I tried out.”

Whisonant played in a game or two, scoring the team’s first touchdown of the season during a trip to Los Angeles.

“The team wasn’t very good,” Whisonant said with a laugh, adding that after that game, the friend she tried out with got seriously injured. “I just thought it wasn’t for me.”

Whisonant moved to Maryland after graduation and eventually began looking for a way to stay in shape. There weren’t many rec basketball leagues in the area, so Whisonant found another sport with which she was familiar: flag football.

She grew up watching football with her dad, a Washington Football Team fan. Whisonant asked her mother if she could play sport and got a “no.”

“I ended up having to cheer for the team instead of playing for the team,” Whisonant said. “I was around it, but not in the aspect that I wanted.”

A decade-plus later, Whisonant finally got her chance.

She joined what's now called the DC ELY League in 2009, playing in the fall and spring with a team named Badd Girls and continued to take her game further. She played contact and noncontact flag football, and even ventured back into tackle football.

During her six seasons with the Women’s Football Alliance tackle team D.C. Divas, Whisonant — a wide receiver and defensive back — starred on the field. She was named to the team’s hall of fame in 2019.

Whisonant moved full time to noncontact flag football two years ago, a way to save her body for her job — the one thing she loves more than sports.

Whisonant graduated from the UA in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and quickly learned there wasn’t much she could do without a master’s degree. She enrolled at George Washington, eventually earning a master’s in human development and special education.

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She went into teaching, “but I always felt like I wanted to work with people and in some aspect help people,” Whisonant said.

A firefighting job became available, and she applied despite not knowing much about it.

“I knew firefighters help people in bad situations and run into burning buildings when everyone else runs out,” Whisonant said. “But I didn’t know the depth of it in terms of medical care and EMS training. I loved it once I got into it. …

“I thought those people were crazy when I was growing up. But you won’t know if you like something until you try it.”

Eight years later, she loves going to work — so much so that she isn’t willing to run the risk of a career-ending injury.

She joined a 7-on-7 team in the United States Flag and Touch Football League National Tournament and linked up with Vanita Krouch, the USA Women’s Flag Football quarterback for the past six years. She also met Chris Lankford, the USA Women’s Flag Football national team’s coach.

Whisonant believes those connections landed her a spot on the 2018 team. Whisonant relished every minute of her trip to Panama to compete in the International Federation of American Football Flag Football World Championships, a trip that was made even sweeter by her team claiming Team USA’s first win for the women.

“It’s strange, because you think USA football — of course we’re always going to win. But no,” Whisonant said.

Making the team again was a longer process.

In January, 24 players from the United States were invited to Dallas for the International Bowl, where they were separated into two teams. The U.S. teams played against teams from Mexico, Panama, Canada or Japan. The national team’s selection committee chose the men’s and women’s teams based on their performances.

Whisonant and the national team will play their next big tournament in Palma, Spain.

“Obviously we’re there for business, but I might decide to stay an extra week just for fun,” Whisonant said.

Whisonant is looking forward to the traditions she so enjoyed in Panama in 2018, such as exchanging gifts with rival teams after a match.

“That was really cool, because I got to bring back souvenirs from other teams,” Whisonant said. “And to win a gold medal for your team is an amazing experience.”

While things are still very much up in the air in terms of the coronavirus, Whisonant hopes she’ll be able to travel.

Until then, she’ll keep doing what she loves. Fighting fires and playing football, a game she never thought she’d get to play.