By LG-Raiderdrive.com
Interview by Larry and story by Paul.

How short is short?  Obviously, this is not an easy question to answer because height is indeed relative.  Now, if you are a young woman around five-feet-tall, you might have a difficult time making it in the WNBA, even if you are talented.  However, if you are a young woman with basketball skills, standing six-foot-six, you might have a shot at the league, especially since you seem to be quite tall.  However, if you can’t swim and happen to fall into a body of water twelve-feet deep, and can’t gain footing, then even six-foot-six is, in this particular case, somewhat short.

Standing just a tad over 5-feet-tall, second-year Raiderette Christy Matthes believes that when it comes to size, she is a little short.  However, when it comes to being a Raiderette, more important than physical height is the size of the image that a young woman presents to the fans and to the young girls who wish to be like her.  When it comes to education, talent, discipline, and compassion, Christy is not so short.  Thus, she stands as definitive evidence that in things that really matter in life, height is not relative—it is insignificant. 

Previously a varsity cheerleader at Georgia Tech, Christy graduated with a B.S. in management information systems and is currently working as an independent software consultant specializing in PeopleSoft.  While she strives to aid her clients in the improvement of their computer systems, her real desire is to enhance the homes of people through her talents as an interior designer.  In fact, she would like to go back to school and get a degree in design.  “Yes, that’s my passion!” she exclaimed with enthusiasm. 

Part of being a great designer is being able to understand symmetry.  Christy carries that theory into her body sculpting.  She believes that she has adequate muscularity in her legs; thus, she concentrates mostly on her upper body.  However, she does work her legs on the treadmill while building cardio.  And, of course, all the dancing that she does, on and off the field, also works to keep her legs toned.

Christy noted that her fiancé is her trainer, and that fact is a plus when it comes to maintaining discipline:  “He’s my motivator.  When I’m tired or feeling lazy, he makes me go to the gym.  He forces me to go.  But then afterwards, I am always thankful that he made me go.”

Yet, she still adheres to her personal body design, despite the weight training, as she explained:

“I don’t want to work out too much.  I don’t want to do too much weights and get too stocky because I am so short; so I have to be really careful about that.  I gain muscle quickly; I have to be careful….  I actually lose weight when I don’t work out…that’s just how my body is.  Muscle weighs more than fat; so when I work out, I have more muscle, and I weigh in a little bit more.”

When it comes to designing her diet, she is just as meticulous as far as maintaining balance:  “I also try to follow a pretty healthy diet and try to stay away from very starchy foods, such as bread and potatoes.  I try to eat a lot of protein and vegetables.”

She makes sure she takes a multivitamin, vitamin C, vitamin E, and alphalipoic acid.  However, she doesn’t take supplements simply because they may be the latest fad.  “I am very critical.  I have to research something before I do it,” she firmly maintained.

However, just like everyone, Christy does admit to going on an occasional junk-food spree.  But, unlike some individuals, she feels guilty afterwards:

 “I do go on binges when I don’t work out, and I feel terrible…  And I think…when I’m not working out, my energy level is pretty low, so I just don’t feel good.  One thing I feel guilty about is if I eat badly.  If I go eat a candy bar, or if I am in a rush and I stop at Taco Bell, I’ll feel really guilty.”

Her favorite fast food, however, is pizza.  “Yeah, I love pizza.  A lot of times on the weekends, you don’t feel like cooking, and you just want to order pizza, and it tastes so good.”  Despite being an interior decorator, she doesn’t decorate her pizza.  Nothing fancy…no combos or specials.  Her approach is more Zen-like:  just plain, but with extra cheese.  “And you have to have a coke with that.  Not diet!  I don’t drink diet.  It has to be regular coke,” she firmly maintained.

Luckily for Christy, all of the dancing that she does during her Raiderette training and during her free time helps to burn off those fast-food treats.  In fact, rather than pursuing any hobbies, Christy considers dance to be her main free-time activity:  “We go out a lot on the weekends with our friends, and we just go to the clubs and go dancing.  It really is a good workout when you’re dancing all night.”

Although she did not play any sports through her school days, including college, she was a cheerleader and thus developed her strength and flexibility because the cheering was more tumbling and gymnastics than the NFL dancing style.  “That [gymnastics], to me, was my sport,” she explained.

One objective in designing a computer program for certain clients certainly might be to make their businesses run more independently; and one objective in designing a sitting room for a modern young woman might be to display a flair for independence.  Before moving to California, Christy had lived with her parents in Atlanta and was very dependent on her family.  It is the quality of independence that Christy looks for in the designing of her life, as she explained: 

“I would like to be more independent.  One of the things that’s helped a lot is I just recently moved into the city—to San Francisco—and that’s something that was very scary for me.  Because it’s the city, and I’m not used to being very independent, living on my own; so that’s the one thing I’ve been trying to work on.”

Yet, when away from home, in San Francisco, Christy still has a family just across the Bay:  the Oakland Raiders organization.  Even though she is just entering her second year and there are so many new girls to get to know, Christy still believes that there is a family solidarity that exists between her and all of the Raiderettes and that they relate to each other as sisters.  Raiderette coordinator Mary Barnes does everything that she can to foster a family atmosphere within the squad; thus, as Christy explained,  “I feel like we are all sisters….  And Mary really treats us like part of her own family—like a second family.  That’s what I love most about Raiderettes.”

Casual observers might think that the spotlight of the field would be the time that Raiderettes shine the most.  However, the most illuminating times for Raiderettes are those when they get the opportunity to shine off the field and often in the shadows. 

While Christy can really decorate the field with her colorful dancing, when it comes to her off-field activities, she can also brighten the lives of women and children in unfortunate family situations.  If there is a place where life can be drab, it is the world of battered women.  Thus, it seems fitting that Christy finds great satisfaction in “decorating” the lives of the women and children at the Midway Shelter in Alameda, CA.  In fact, last Christmas, she helped wrap toys and helped make Christmas a bit brighter for those less fortunate.  The Midway Shelter is Christy’s favorite charity because she understands the needs of the women and children in these situations.  “I’ve had friends that have gone through some similar types of abuse, so I just felt that I could relate to that charity.  I love contributing to that one,” she explained with conviction.

While Christy Matthes may be too short to play in the WNBA, when it comes to depth of character, personality, and being a fine example of young womanhood, she is a slam dunk.  Any young woman trying to be like Christy and live up to the high standards that this Raiderette sets, especially designing a life balanced by education, talent, discipline, and compassion, will find that Christy Matthes is one tall order to fill.