C-SC’s Erickson chases Women’s Football Alliance championship to cap her playing career

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Caitlin Erickson has a chance to go out a champion.

Erickson, the starting center for the Women’s Football Alliance’s St. Louis Slam and the women’s lacrosse coach at Culver-Stockton College, will play the final game of her 15-year football career when she leads the Slam in their pursuit of a WFA Pro Division national championship this weekend.

The Slam will take on the D.C. Divas at 1 p.m. Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

“The last couple weeks, I’ve really just been taking it all in,” Erickson said. “We were hanging out as a team after the last game, and I was just scanning the room and being sentimental and internalizing and thinking about all the memories I have with a lot of my teammates.”

Those memories include four national championships. The Slam won last year’s pro division title and also took home Division 2 championships in 2016, 2017 and 2019 with Erickson anchoring the offensive line before they moved up to the pro division following the canceled 2020 season.

Erickson cited nagging injuries as the primary reason for hanging up her cleats after Saturday.

“I just always said I was going to play until the wheels fell off, but I’ve had enough injuries — not season-ending injuries or anything — the last couple years to say, ‘Hey, my body’s falling apart, and it’s probably better if I stop now on my own terms rather than having to have a career-ending surgery and forcing me to stop playing,’” Erickson said.

Those injuries include ankle and hip ailments, things not uncommon for offensive linemen.

“As I get older, it seems like it’s one thing after another,” the 36-year-old Erickson said. “I just want to be able to retire on my own terms and not tear my labrum or really, really break something, causing me not to be able to play.”

Erickson’s football odyssey began at Lindenwood University, where she was a field hockey and lacrosse goalie. In the fall of 2010, the Slam held tryouts at Lindenwood, and Erickson gave it a shot.

“I’ve always loved football,” Erickson said. “My dad and I used to go to Bears games all the time.”

The rest is history. Erickson initially made the team as a tight end, but after the first week of practice, she moved to the offensive line. She played guard that first year and the early part of the next before moving to center, where she has remained ever since.

“I’ve been told I’m very consistent and that I have really good form as a center,” said Erickson, a five-time WFA All-American. “You’ll see the occasional pancake from me, but really, you can expect to see my quarterback’s pocket pretty clean. We usually give her a lot of time to throw, or if we’re running the ball, the running back usually has a lot of room to make a decision on which way to go.”

The Slam bring the league’s top offense and defense into Saturday’s national championship game. St. Louis scored 49.2 points per game and gave up 8.7 points on average in its six regular season games and outscored its quarterfinal and semifinal opponents 94 -13.

“The team we beat in the semifinals (the Minnesota Vixen) beat the Divas in the regular season by a pretty big margin,” Erickson said. “We’re doing everything we can to counter what they’re bringing to the table, but all I know is we’ve had a really consistent season, and we’re definitely not letting up.”

Erickson said the Slam’s success begins with its head coach Quincy Davis, who has led the team since its inception in 2009.

“He is the most patient, caring, disciplined coach,” Erickson said. “He watches and breaks down more film than any coach I know, especially considering he’s never gotten paid a dime for coaching our team. He just puts so much into it.”

As evidenced by the Slam’s unblemished 6-0 regular season record, gaudy statistics and dominant performances in the playoffs to this point, they have the talent to complement their coach.

“We’re all really successful people, so we all draw to each other, and I think that really helps with our championship program,” Erickson said.

Erickson briefed fans on what they can expect to see on Saturday.

“They can expect some pretty hard hits, some great throwing,” Erickson said. “It’s a battle between two very talented quarterbacks, and obviously, I’m biased. I think mine (Jaime Gaal) is better. We have some great receivers and tight ends. We’re a really well balanced team, so you can definitely expect some big plays.” 

Erickson also provided this disclaimer.

“Don’t expect it to look like men’s football,” Erickson said. “Naturally, we’re not built like men. We don’t move like them. We’re not as powerful, not as explosive, but when you look at the technique, when you look at the IQ, when you look at all of that, it’s some pretty dang good football.”

Erickson has been playing that for most of her adult life, but after this weekend, she will no longer have to balance football with coaching lacrosse.

She has not had much trouble with that, though. She helped start the Culver-Stockton women’s lacrosse program when she was hired in Fall 2018 and was named the Heart of America Conference Coach of the Year in 2025 after leading the Wildcats to their first winning season in program history.

“Every year for the last six years, I’ve missed the first four months of (football) practice,” Erickson said. “Then in the summer, if I’m not doing football, I’m out at a tournament recruiting, and I’m either traveling or in my house sending out emails or whatever I need to do, then I get a two-week break after football to catch up on whatever I need to, then I’m back to it. It’s challenging, but I’ve always lived a life that was on the go and always having something to do.

“Now we have to go back to, ‘What am I going to fill this void with?’”

Erickson had a handful of ideas for what might take football’s place.

“I really like lifting,” Erickson said. “I don’t think I’ll ever do CrossFit, but honestly, I might try to get involved in a rec softball league.”

Before that, she still has another championship to win.

“It’s an honor to take the field one more time with these women because they’re just amazing people and athletes,” Erickson said. “I’m ready to leave it all out there.”