It’s hot here on a practice field just outside of Pen Air Field on an early August afternoon. The kind of hot that requires multiple water breaks over the course of two hours and popsicles at the end of practice.

And yet, the University of West Florida football team pushes through the brutal summer heat and stifling humidity.

Devin Wright attacks a defensive drill with all-out effort on a sweltering August morning on the University of West Florida campus.

This is year two in college football for Wright, but the first where he hopes to get on the field and showcase his ability after a redshirt season in 2022.

Adreahna Busch dribbles the soccer ball during a one-on-one drill in practice on one of those early August mornings that makes you feel like you are standing in the center of a camp fire.

She uses her skill to get past a defender, which isn’t a surprise as her coach at Pensacola State, Mark Yepshin, says the former Navarre Raider is ‘really, really nifty with her feet.’

Amanda Dodson used to play softball. She even won a state championship while in high school in Kansas.

But when she moved to Florida, she decided to shift her focus. And it turned out to be a pretty good decision.

Mark Yepshin has two young children. One just turned 3. The other is a little over a year. So when his name was mentioned as a possible head coach for the first women’s soccer program in Pensacola State history, he had to make sure his wife was on board.