Georgia Hauk is certainly no stranger to football.

As a high school cheerleader who grew up in football-crazy small town, the 67-year-old retired Ann Arbor elementary school teacher spent her Friday nights on the sidelines, watching the action unfold in front of her.

For years now, she has been part of football Saturdays at Michigan Stadium, watching the game surrounded by 107,000 fellow enthusiasts, picking up on football's finer points more and more each season.

"I've always said I know just enough about football to be dangerous," Hauk said Saturday. "I always wanted to know more, but I never dreamed I would be the one out there playing."

Saturday, she was in the middle of the action.

Hauk was one of about 100 women who participated in Eastern Michigan University's inaugural women's Football 101 clinic at Rynearson Stadium, getting an insider's look at college football.

A portion of each $30 entry fee benefitted breast cancer research through the Eastern Michigan volleyball team's "Dig Pink" initiative.

For three hours, players moved from station to station, learning the ins and outs of each position from Ron English's coaching staff.

They back-peddled up and down chalk lines, drove their bodies into blocking pads during offensive line drills and received stutter-stepping tips from Eastern Michigan running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley - a former Michigan standout who went on to play in the NFL.

Much of Hauk's desire to take part in Saturday's clinic came from the fact she has two grandsons who will soon be playing high school ball.

And with summer conditioning beginning soon around the state, getting the chance to run through drills opened up Hauk's eyes.

"I think now I will have a little more appreciation for what they go through to play this game," Hauk said. "Because I was the one out there actually doing it."

Hauk was far from being alone.

Amy Schmitt has spent years around football, following her son, Andy, from St. John's High School to Eastern Michigan, where he is now the Eagles' starting quarterback.

As Andy grew up, Amy spent many an evening in the backyard throwing the football with her son until his passes became too difficult to try and catch.

As she moved from station to station Saturday, Amy Schmitt learned the techniques required at each position, giving her perspective of the game she has long spent following as a spectator.

"I've always looked at (football) as my son, the quarterback," she said. "I've always been aware of the (offensive) line because they do an awesome job for my son. But (learning about) the defense and the corners, the safeties and the wide receivers - it was very insightful today."

Schmitt found herself singled out during the offensive line drills, when she jumped off-sides, drawing the ire of Eastern Michigan offensive line coach Kurt Anderson.

Anderson, who played college ball at Michigan, treated Schmitt like any other player, quickly alerting her group and those scattered around the stadium that there are consequences for penalties.

But overall, Anderson was impressed with the players that passed through his instructional station.

"We have some veteran offensive linemen (at Eastern Michigan) and some of them are going to be graduating and so if any of these ladies has any eligibility left, I think we have some (Mid-American Conference) talent here," Anderson said.

Saturday's roster of participants included Eastern Michigan compliance director Melody Reifel-Werner, English's wife, Sophia, and the wife of Eastern Michigan athletic director Derrick Gragg, Sanya.

It also was made up of at least one mother-daughter duo - Laura and Maggie Williams - who arrived from Milan anxious to learn more about football.

Twenty years ago, Laura was a member of Eastern Michigan's marching band and spent her Saturdays performing at football games.

But that's about where her knowledge of the game stopped.

"All I knew is when to play the fight song," she said.

On Saturday, she and 15-year-old daughter Maggie traveled from position station to position station, learning just how much thought goes into each aspect of the game.
"It's just not about being burly and knocking people down," Laura Williams said.

Maggie, who plays soccer at Milan High School, enjoyed the physical aspects of Saturday's clinic while getting a chance to see her mom go through the same drills that Eastern Michigan's players go through. Having never played football before, Maggie relished the tackling drills - an aspect of the clinic she had looked forward to since she arrived.

So how would she evaluate her mom's football skills?

"It's been a little bit funny more than anything," Maggie said. "But she's doing good and I think this has given us a real taste of football. It's just an experience you don't get to do very often."

Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2554 or jeffarnold@annarbor.com