We recently connected with Ben Ezugha and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ben thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Just over 10 years ago, I ended a five-year stint as a wide receiver’s coach for Valhalla High School. It was a very formative chapter of my life being able to marry my passion for the game with my inherent desire to be a mentor for kids. I ended up leaving California to be with my now wife in my hometown of Oklahoma City where we live with our three children. I always knew I wanted to get back into coaching, but I wasn’t in a hurry. I had a strong desire to wait until the time was right and our kids were old enough to participate.

Fast forward a few years and I’m a full-blown girl dad who has accepted the reality the most that I could do with my girls is watch football on TV. We’re in the middle of the COVID-19 quarantine, and i’m working from home, browsing the internet between projects. I stumbled across an NFL.com video of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Mike Evans gifting scholarships to football players in the Tampa Bay region. Amongst the athletes receiving money were girls. My curiosity was buzzing about what girl’s flag football even looked like, so I went to YouTube to see for myself. What I found had me transfixed.

The same competitiveness and fulfillment that I got from playing and coaching came rushing back. I wanted to be a part of it. When I found out that it didn’t exist in Oklahoma, I knew someone had to do something about it. The gears in my brain started to turn and I thought that if I wait around for someone else to build it, I might be waiting forever. So why not me?

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Ben Ezugha, and I am the owner and director of STRIKE LEAGUE, Oklahoma’s first-ever football organization exclusively for young girls of all ages and grades.

What STRIKE LEAGUE offers is an opportunity for girls to experience the excitement and the pageantry of the best team sport there is. We also aim to close the sports participation gap (caused by American football) where these athletes learn soft skills like teamwork, communication, and leadership, while also developing their bravery, courage, and inner confidence.

I consider STRIKE to be a vocational endeavor. It has empowered me to keep marching through failure, no-shows, and low turnouts. My belief in the mission has allowed me to pass out business cards to every family I see in public, even as I stumble and stutter doing it. What I am most proud of is seeing the logo I designed for the brand starting to be a symbol that contains an emotional meaning not only in my eyes but in the eyes of the kids who see it as well. To start from scratch and get to where I’m at is a win in itself.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Don’t attempt to convince anyone to help you with this journey.

Women’s sports already have a stigma amongst a lot of people for being perceived as a less exciting, less explosive version of the men’s variety, so they tend to ignore it altogether.

I learned a while back that I’m not going to plead for someone to help if they don’t immediately see the importance of what we’re doing. If the energy level isn’t being met by someone you’re interested in helping you achieve your goal, don’t bother with it.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Just over a year ago, I attempted STRIKE LEAGUE’s first skills and drills camp at Bluff Creek Park just north of Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City. I had an OKC Lady Force football player in attendance to help with some instructing and a couple of guys there to do video. And not a single person showed up.

It hurt. I may not have outwardly shown it, but I was devastated.

We stood there and brainstormed for two hours on how we could get this into something tangible. Something real. I kept plugging away.

Since then, I met a couple of adult athletes who were as passionate about spreading girls flag as I was. Then I met a few professionals who were in the profession of promoting youth participation in after-school sports. And then I was introduced to a couple of moms who wanted to see this sport grow for their own daughter’s sake, who told other moms of STRIKE. Now we have a group of over 90 athletes on a waiting list with an average of 8-12 athletes per session learning and competing. We are shaped by an all-female staff consisting of a strength and conditioning coach, and four incredibly talented athletes turned instructors.

Conducting a free camp and having no one show can be embarrassing. Hosting an event and having only four kids show can be humbling. Being new, putting yourself out there, and standing alone doesn’t mean no one wants your services. It just means that they haven’t found you yet. Keep pushing!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.strikeleague.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strike.league/?img_index=1
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strikeleaguefootball/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@strike_league
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@strike_league?lang=en

Image Credits
Abby Coyle Hyde Photography