This Murray businesswoman tackles business deals and wide receivers

By Shaun Delliskave | [email protected]

For Murray businesswoman Elisa Salazar, there never was a question that sports were going to be part of her life. Yet for a young girl, the dream of playing professional football was not yet an option. Now with the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC) professional league, and currently Murray’s only professional sports team, the Utah Falconz, Salazar is living the dream.

“I grew up in Rose Park, watching my uncles play sports,” Salazar said. “They were my heroes. Some people had to watch their sports heroes on TV. I got to watch mine live and in person. Sometimes they would even let me practice with them. It was just for fun to them, but it was serious business to me. I loved watching them compete.”

As the WNFC does not yet quite command the salaries that the National Football League has, Salazar splits her time and works as general manager of Inwest Title Services. Working in the real estate industry, she sought to make connections through the Murray Area Chamber of Commerce (MACC). 

Salazar served on the Board of Directors for the Chamber from 2017-20. She was elected chair of the Board of Directors in 2019 and continues to be a member of the MACC. MACC offers business education tools and networking events, and they help support service opportunities in the community. 

“The Murray Children's Pantry is one of my favorites,” Salazar added.

Even with a successful business career, Salazar still longed to play football.

“When I was younger, I used to play football in the street with the boys in the neighborhood. If we could find a strip of grass to play on, we'd do that too. I always wondered what it would be like to play organized football with pads, gear, officials, and no road rash. When I saw an article about Utah having a women's football team, I was banging down their door to let me give it a shot,” Salazar said.

As part of the WNFC, the Utah Falconz play their home games in Cottonwood High School’s football stadium. The league works to advance and develop women's tackle and has teams in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, Las Vegas and Denver. Prior to the pandemic, Utah won the national championship. This year the Falconz games will be broadcast over the VYRE Network.

“We have been fortunate to acquire supportive sponsors such as Adidas, Riddell and Bose,” Salazar said.

After the pandemic wiped out the Falconz’s season last year, the team will now face a full schedule following federal and local health guidelines.

“This year is going to be a very exciting year. We have some great additions to our coaching staff who have helped elevate our skills, technique and game play. In addition to our returning players, we have a strong group of rookies just itching to get out on the field. We did not have a 2020 season, so honestly, we are all itching to get back out there,” Salazar said.

Playing for the Falconz has fulfilled Salazar’s tackle football dream. As a veteran cornerback, she also mentors rookies and has gained some choice memories.

“One play that stands out to me was in a game early on in our season,” Salazar said. “We were on defense. I was playing corner. We had a newer player playing outside linebacker. In practices she would play a little timid and would second guess herself. Well, this particular play the offense was running a sweep to our side. Our newbie outside linebacker reacted and played it perfectly. She tracked her (the rusher) down and tackled her with such perfection, the force of the hit sent her flying out of bounds. Seeing the look on our newbie’s face after that was priceless. My job in that play was to cutoff the sideline, so I was right there to witness this feat.”

More information regarding the Utah Falconz can be found online at utahfalconz.com.