Journalism student publishes feature on women’s football pioneer in The Salt Lake Tribune 

At 61 years old, Ally Cleveland is by far the oldest player on the Utah Falconz, one of the most successful women’s football teams in the country. 

The veteran center, who plays against athletes who are bigger, stronger and decades younger than she is, knows that she doesn’t have many seasons left. But Cleveland isn’t ready to let go. 

“It wasn’t an easy road to get here, after all,” wrote Reagan Thomas, a Utah State University student who penned a profile of Cleveland that was recently published in The Salt Lake Tribune. 

Thomas’ article, which began as a project in a feature writing class in the Department of Journalism and Communication, is an exploration of the ways in which people decide to pass on better lessons than the ones they were taught. 

Cleveland’s youth football experience taught her that only perfection is acceptable and that winning is more important than relationships. Now, as a tackle football player and flag football coach, she is committed to appreciating effort regardless of outcome — one of many lessons she has taken with her into the classroom as a teacher at Hillsdale Elementary in West Valley City, where she has taught 6th grade for the past two school years.

“This story took longer than any other I’ve written, but working with Ally has made this project worthwhile,” Thomas said. “It has been so fun to get to know her in so many places — her home, her school, her flag football game.” 

The story was published as part of a collaborative initiative with the nonprofit Amplify Utah, which supports journalistic storytelling that celebrates diverse points of view. 

Thomas said she appreciates the opportunities that come from being a journalism student — which at Utah State explicitly means doing actual journalism. “There are so many amazing people in the world,” she said, “and being a journalist allows you to meet many of them.” 

Journalism professor Matthew LaPlante, the instructor for the class in which Thomas began working on Cleveland’s story, said he was proud of his student’s efforts.

“We live in a time in which there are many questions, many debates, and many very passionate, hurtful, and sometimes even hateful opinions about women’s sports,” LaPlante said. “What gets lost, all too often, is that real people are at the heart of our disagreements. Stories like Reagan’s article about Ally have the power to remind people of our shared humanity.”