The Wolfpack: ‘It’s not the lingerie league’

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HIT LIKE A GIRL—Ventura County Wolfpack football player Sonia Deputee, right, wraps up teammate Kimberly Lawson during practice.
Photos by MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers The Ventura County Wolfpack is vicious.

Players run hard, hit harder and never call it quits.

They leave practice with bruises and black eyes but come back the next day with the same enthusiasm they’ve had since joining the squad earlier this year.

They’re also women.

The Wolfpack, Ventura County’s first 11-on-11 women’s tackle football team, is eager to step onto the field for its April 11 season opener against the Arizona Assassins at Washington High in Phoenix.

“The women play just as hard as the guys,” Wolfpack head coach David Byrd said. “They’re a lot easier to coach than the guys, too.”

Byrd, 56, spent 17 seasons coaching different age groups in the Camarillo Roadrunners youth football league. He serves as Roadrunners vice president.

IN STRIDE—Misty Goodnight catches a pass at Wolfpack practice. Goodnight’s son Riley, 10, will cheer for his mom this season. When he heard of the opportunity to coach a squad from the Women’s Football Alliance, a league with 41 teams spread throughout the United States, he jumped at the chance.

“Women’s football is a great opportunity for girls,” Byrd said. “Women don’t really have that opportunity in high school or college. A lot of them play other sports, but the love for football is just as high for women as it is for men.”

The Ventura Black Widows, the 8-on-8 football team founded in 2008, gave women a chance to suit up and play tackle football. The Wolfpack gives women the opportunity to play with a full lineup.

Assistant coaches Kevin Taylor and Bryon Simpson said the Wolfpack and the WFA, formed in 2007, is in Ventura County to open doors for all female athletes.

TEACHING FUNDAMENTALS—Ventura County Wolfpack defensive coordinator Kevin Taylor, second from left, talks to his players during thefirst practice with pads last weekend at Rio Lindo Park in Oxnard. “The league gives women a chance to play football,” Simpson said. “It’s not the lingerie league. It’s legit football. They can play football in full pads and not have to buy new lingerie.”

Simpson, originally from Kentucky, played football in high school before joining the U.S. Navy. This is the former running back/defensive back’s first season coaching.

Taylor spent time as a football coach at Rio Mesa, Camarillo and St. Bonaventure high schools before joining the Wolfpack’s coaching staff as defensive coordinator. He’s noticed the women’s “raw desire to compete,” but he sees the bigger picture.

BREAKING BARRIERS—Ventura County Wolfpack players gather after a drill. The Wolfpack, the first 11- on-11 women’s tackle football team in the area, plays its first game April 11 against the Arizona Assassins.
Photos by MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers “I don’t know what the world thinks of it, but gender equality is on the forefront right now,” Taylor said. “This is just another way we’re progressively making a change for the better.”

The 25-women team, which includes players from every corner of Acorn country, is suited up and ready to take to the gridiron.

NOT THE

USUAL SUSPECT

Misty Goodnight, 41, is a natural athlete.

A police officer for 18 years, Goodnight always excelled at sports. She was a star combo guard for the Camarillo basketball team. She also ran track for the Scorpions.

INCOMING—Sonia Deputee of Camarillo suits up at quarterback for the Ventura County Wolfpack women’s tackle football team. When she saw an online posting for a women’s football team, she took it as a sign.

“I always wanted to play football,” the die-hard Chicago Bears fan said. “When I was a kid, I was that tomboy that wanted to play football with all the boys.”

The Thousand Oaks resident tried out for the Wolfpack, earning a spot at running back.

Goodnight said it took time to learn different plays and formations, but she’s slowly under standing the nuances of the sport. She’s also settling in with her new teammates.

“It’s been awesome,” she said. “We’re like a family. We get beat up, but we take care of each other.”

She said her 10-year-old son Riley will surely be on the sidelines when the regular season arrives.

“He’s quite proud of his mom playing football,” Goodnight said with a grin.

A NEW

PASSION

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.

Tawny Reeger’s diamonds were made of infield dirt.

Reeger, 24, played Little League baseball for five years before making the switch to the softball diamond. She played softball at Simi Valley High and for the So Cal Panthers travel club. She went on to play second base at Delaware State University.

The Simi Valley resident lived for the sport.

“I spent my whole life playing softball and baseball, and I thought I loved that,” she said. “So far, I’ve enjoyed football so much more.”

Reeger, who now manages the Tonka Off-Road Race Team, had only played two-hand touch football before joining the Wolfpack. Her competitiveness kept her coming back.

“Throughout my life I’ve always had something competitive to do. I’m out here with other people that are trying to get better and are trying to win,” she said. “It’s really cool to be a part of something like this and I love it. I wouldn’t come out here five days a week for anything else.”

She expects to see most of her reps at wide receiver and running back.

LIKE FATHER,

LIKE DAUGHTER

Football is in Victoria Anderson Ornsbey’s blood.

“I grew up on the sidelines,” she said.

Her father, Gary Anderson, played football for 36 years. He dominated at defensive tackle at Reseda High before attending UCLA and eventually playing at University of Pacific on a scholarship. Watching her father play for nearly four decades, she always wished she could try playing the sport.

Tina Mallory, a current teammate, told Anderson-Ornsbey about the Wolfpack. The Oak Park resident finally had her chance to be like her dad.

“I came out and fell in love,” she said. “We’re really excited to see what’s going to happen this season. Most people didn’t know there was women’s football, but the league we’re playing in has been around.”

Anderson-Ornsbey, 31, bullies opponents at center and defensive tackle for the squad. The Oak Park High graduate also helps organize practices and equipment orders for the Wolfpack.

Getting the team ready for the regular season hasn’t been easy.

The team’s jerseys weren’t delivered on time. Players didn’t have pads for the first two months of practice due to a shipping snafu. The team still doesn’t have a designated home field.

Anderson-Ornsbey isn’t discouraged.

“I said I’m going to do whatever we have to do to make this happen in the county,” she said, “and that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

The Wolfpack players now have helmets, pads and cleats. Anderson-Ornsbey’s family will have the chance to see her in action. Her husband, Mike Ornsbey, and daughters, Lilah Ornsbey, Seasun Hill, Sierra Hill and Ragen Anderson, will be cheering from the stands.

ONE OF

THE GUYS

Brittany Pillado just wanted to fit in.

“I wanted to be more accepted by the boys in my family,” the 23-year-old said. “They all played football, so I thought I’d play, too. I ended up falling in love with the sport.”

Pillado is the Wolfpack’s most experienced player.

She spent a season with the Fillmore High football team before transferring to Westlake for her junior year. She joined the Warriors for summer workouts, but said she didn’t quite fit in.

“They’re the ‘Band of Brothers,’ so there was no room for girls,” she said of Westlake. “I was practicing, but I was never going to get a chance to play in a game, so I stopped playing and moved over to wrestling.”

She dominated on the wrestling mat.

Pillado took second place at the CIF-Southern Section 118-pound division as a senior in 2009. After high school, she picked up football again with the Black Widows.

Her favorite part is Hell Week.

“It was like hell,” the Port Hueneme resident said. “A few of us threw up, but we just got back into it. That’s how the game can be. It’ll be tough in the fourth quarter, and Hell Week helped us know what it’ll feel like out there.”

The Wolfpack’s quarterback and middle linebacker said she’s glad she found a new team.

“It’s been amazing,” she said. “These girls are even more amazing. I’m not going anywhere.”

HER TURN

TO PLAY

Tiffany Ruby grew up watching her cousin, Michael Centeno, play football for the Ventura Packers youth squad.

“I was never allowed to play,” Ruby said. “He would just tell me to go to the sideline and cheer him on.”

Ruby, 40, played volleyball and basketball at Camarillo High, but she always wanted to get her shot on the football field. The Wolfpack made her dream come true. She’s eager to suit up at right guard and defensive tackle.

“It’s going to feel good when he can watch me and I’m the one playing,” she said. “Maybe he can wear a skirt, too.”

Ruby, whose daughter Coleen Jeffreys graduated from Camarillo High last year, said she’s developing a close bond with her teammates. Football is now a part of the accountant’s life.

“I just came out to try it and it stuck,” she said. “It’s been awesome. This whole team is like a family. It keeps me grounded.”

Her favorite part about playing football is relieving stress with a little physical contact. She said she never realized how much of a natural she is in the trenches.

“Once you get into it, you learn it’s not that hard,” she said. “No wonder the guys can do it. It’s easy.”

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A decade later, Crossboundaries realizes Aimer’s Lingerie Factory, a new model …

When Aimer first approached Crossboundaries in 2004, it requested a factory compound of 14000 sqm gross floor area that could house conventional storage, manufacturing, and a 300-people dormitory by individual functions. However, as Aimer grew rapidly in China, the leadership quickly foresaw the importance to upgrade its operation shifting from a production-focused business to a genuine fashion brand. In order to reinforce its brand image and adapt to a maturing economy, Crossboundaries was asked to add a Research and Development office, a 23000sqm distribution center as well as spaces to showcase its products. The realized facility of 53000sqm in 2014 represents a successful collaboration between Aimer and the designers in rethinking the future of the Chinese brand that integrates production, brand building with the well-being of employees.

Unity: A facility that reflects the strength of a leading enterprise

 

To optimize the site, Crossboundaries gathered all business functions under one roof, resulted in a rectangular stand-alone building that presents strength and authority to the public.

 

Following the idea to boost Aimer’s operational efficiency in order to move up the value chain, Crossboundaries responded with detail research and understanding of how Aimers goods, employees and visitors navigate within and between the spaces. The west public entry into the 12m high lobby invites visitors to the southwest corner of shop and Aimer museum as well as the ground floor conference center that will host industry events. Above the conference center and lobby is the office area, which shares a communal deck with the manufacturing areas, cutting down in-house communication time between administration and production.

 

Not only does the complex serve conventional factory needs in a modern way, but it also creates a factory community based on the communist system of a “danwei”. “Even though Aimer is upgrading its operation to meet international business standard, it still provides accomodation as part of compensation for the workers based on the communist idea of ‘danwei’,” said principal Binke Lenhardt. The 600-people dormitory seperates from the facility with recreational areas in between, generating a distinction between work and living therefore enhancing the sense of community for workers.

Democratizing: Attending the well-being and interaction of employees

 

While it is important to the client to present a strong image, Crossboundaries envisioned a factory environment that attends to the well-being of workers and administration employees equally.

 

By cutting a void in the builiding and placing a communal deck set at level +13m, the doubled public space crossing ground floor and the deck allows air to better circulate horizontally and vertically along the curved inner facade. The use of top-hinged glass windows along the inner facade maximize the amount of natural light that shines into both manufacturing and office areas. This timbered deck therefore serves as a bridge to bring administration and workers to stroll and relax in the same place. “We have to break away from the imprisoning working environment, moving from disciplining workers to engaging communication and breathing within the factories,” said principal Hao Dong. 

Branding lingerie: Speaking about seduction through architecture

 

Since Aimer intends to use the building for events, showcasing and industry conferences, Crossboundaries’s deep understanding of Aimer’s vision later led to designing the building’s interior, landscape and signage for a consistent image that reflects the essence of lingerie.

 

Although the industrial nature of the facility is addressed with galvanized aluminum and concrete on the outer and inner façade respectively, the aluminum panles were designed with vertical fins and concrete panels pre-fabricated in order to enliven a flattened cube with tactility. The outer facade transitions from aluminum coverage to a combination of aluminum and glass, accomodating the different levels of lighting required in products-centered areas and human-centered areas. The visual effect of the facade therefore reflects the nature of lingerie: coverage and transparency.

 

The staircase in the lobby winds around a veil of slender white columns set at various inclinations screening off the shop and museum. It also doubles as an decending catwalk for models to reveal a new collection of lingerie, emerging from behind the veil to the audiance in the lobby. This sense of exploration and mystery is frequently echoed in lighting, walkways and voids with curves and rounded quadrilateral patterns, which were extracted abstractly from selections of lace.

Future

 

While the county of Shunyi sees a growing number of industrial architectures and outlets, the Aimer Factory’s contemporary aesthetic and functions allocation are designed with the future in mind: the possibility to use the architecture for other purposes and setting Aimer apart as a leading national brand that will be ready to compete internationally.

 

 

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NOTES TO EDITORS

_________________________________________________________________________

Photo Credits go to Zhi Xia, Chaoyang Ying

Press Kit download link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/re0x6g79kvpytnk/AACSFaXaHmzR2t5rz7Plvqmxa?dl=0

Project Facts

Project Name: Aimer Lingerie Factory (Fashion production complex)
Location: Shunyi District, Beijing, China
Client: Beijing Aimer Lingerie Co. ,Ltd

Appointment: 2004

Completion: 2014

Architect: Crossboundaries

Interior Design: Crossboundaries

Landscape Architect: Crossboundaries
Collaborating Architects Engineers: BIAD International Studio BIAD TSH International Studio
Structure and Material: Reinforced concrete
Facade: Glass and galvanized aluminium panel system, concrete panel system

 

Awards

2014 Annual China Construction Engineering Luban Prize

 

About Crossboundaries

Founded in 2005 and organized as an international partnership, Crossboundaries has offices in Beijing, Frankfurt and Berlin. With staff originating from and trained in Asia, Europe and North America we provide unique spatial solutions deriving from local cultural knowledge and transnational expertise.

 

Crossboundaries contributes to a vital built environment through architecture, environmental design and urban regeneration. We create enduring architecture that often deals with remarkable technical processes, yet always has a pleasant material touch and human atmosphere.

 

The work of Crossboundaries originates from a strong belief that design as a process results in successful, operational buildings. This approach is based on two fundamental principles: research and collaboration. For our projects we create suitable multi-disciplinary teams where all participants can assess the opportunities within the given conditions. We identify the essential questions, jointly create pragmatic solutions by data collection and analyze significant precedents. We regularly discuss possible programmatic shifts with our clients to raise their benefits of the project. This approach has been proven successful for projects ranging from automotive production to childcare facilities and cultural complexes.

 

About Aimer

Founded in 1993, Aimer is one of the leading lingerie brands in China and as well a fashion kingdom which is dedicated to supplying high quality lingerie products for women, men, youth, kids. Led by a world-class creative design team, Aimer believes in creating beauty and quality lingerie products. The Group consistently focuses on innovation and creativity in its designs, which often features an elegant fusion of oriental and western design elements.

 

With an international presence in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the Group’s creative design team continuously creates more than 400 new products under Aimer’s five main brands: AIMER, imi’s, LA CLOVER, AIMER men and Aimer kids. Aimer Group is recognised today as the pioneer of Chinese fashion lingerie brands, bringing evolutionary innovation into the designs of lingerie products.

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