By Brandyn Campbell

They are the private individuals in relationships with NFL athletes, constantly negotiating the line between family and public life. Their lives ebb and flow between the season and football’s offseason. These are the realities of NFL wives, some of whom will come together to network, support, and inform one another at the Off the Field Player’s Wives Association’s Wives Conference, held April 23rd to 26th in Atlanta. The gathering presents an opportunity for the wives and significant others of players in clubs around the country to meet and discuss their shared challenges and opportunities.

Ericka Lassiter, president of Off the Field since 2009, knows that the conference experience is personal. “There are always so many questions for the wives,” she said. “There are different things that we go through, as you’ve seen over the last year. You need that support system from other wives that are living the same thing, going through the same thing that they’re going through.”

Lassiter describes the conference as “motivational, empowerment, and informational-based.” The wives are typically in charge of their households, so the conference aims to equip them with tools to maximize their success and happiness during and after football.  In addition to ample opportunities to network and form a camaraderie based on shared experiences, there will be a community service project as well as a wealth of information shared to help plan for life during and after the NFL.

Representatives from NFL Player Engagement will be on hand to discuss some of their programs and opportunities. NFLPA will be present to discuss The Trust, which provides a range of career, medical and financial advice and support to provide customized “gameplans” for former players as they pursue their life paths off the field. Going back to school is a popular pursuit for many players after they have completed their NFL careers, so discussion of grant and scholarship opportunities will be included in presentations.

Sessions to enhance the personal and the professional lives of attendees are planned, including a vision board workshop and classes on franchising. Relationship counselors and speakers will be present, as well as frank talk on a challenging reality that all NFL families will face--transitioning to life off the field.

“A lot of our active women know that transition is coming, but don’t know exactly how serious transition is,” Lassiter said. “Even if it’s your first day in the league, prepare as you go through your journey and your experience. We’ll discuss some things to save the marriages, tosave your husband from falling into depression from not having something that he loved for so long.”

Domestic violence, particularly in NFL families, has become a topic of national focus over the past year. Off the Field serves as a resource for NFL wives and families and is using that position to feature discussion and support for those who find themselves in abusive situations with a domestic violence and sexual assault education course.

This month’s conference will take place just days before a new class enters the sisterhood of NFL wives and significant others as their partners are drafted into the league. While there is currently no mechanism to connect with those women in advance, new players to the league will learn about the support offered to their significant others through Off the Field at this year’s Rookie Symposium.

“It’s an unfortunate string of events that has led to the recognition that we’ve needed for years,” said Lassiter.  “Now that the league is more familiar with the organization, we will be featured as one of the resource groups on their list of people to reach out to at the Rookie Symposium.”

Off the Field looks forward to welcoming attendees to Atlanta later this month. Those who are not presently members of Off the Field Player’s Wives Association can learn about the support, information and access that membership in the organization can provide. But hurry--the hotel registration deadline for the conference is April 6, and conference registration ends on April 17. Registration and conference information can be found via the event’s Eventbrite page here. Those with questions are encouraged to reach out to conference@otfpwa.org.