Women's Football Alliance

Women's Football Alliance
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2014 Women's Football Alliance season
Sport Women's American football
Founded 2008
No. of teams 40
Country  United States
Most recent champion(s) Boston Militia
Most titles Boston Militia (2)

The Women's Football Alliance is a full-contact Women's American football league that began play in 2009. It is one of three full-contact, 11-on-11 football leagues for women, along with the Independent Women's Football League and the Women's Spring Football League, and the largest of the three. The league is owned and operated by Jeff and Lisa King of Exeter, California.

League history

The Women's Football Alliance was established in 2009 and began its inaugural season with 36 teams. Many of these teams were already established teams moving in from other leagues such as Women's Professional Football League, Independent Women's Football League and National Women's Football Association, while others began their inaugural season of play in the WFA.

2009

The first season of play ended with a championship game, which was played in the rebuilding (post-Katrina) city of New Orleans, Louisiana and was hosted by the New Orleans Blaze. The game was between the St. Louis Slam (American Conference - St. Louis, MO) and the West Michigan Mayhem (National Conference - Kalamazoo, MI). The game came down to the last few plays and the St. Louis Slam became the first National Champions in the WFA with a final score of 21-14. Additionally, there was an International Game played between the upstart Aguilas Regias of Monterrey, Mexico and the hosting team, New Orleans Blaze. The Blaze won this game 12-0.

2010

The WFA grew in the second year (2010) to have over 40 teams competing for the National Championship. The national championship for the 2010 season was accompanied by the first All-American game. The term All-American is used by the WFA to represent the best players at all positions from all WFA teams. The teams were chosen partly based on statistics and partly based on the vote of head coaches. The All-American game was played just before the championship game in Las Vegas, Nevada and were hosted by the Las Vegas Showgirlz. The All-American game was won by the American Conference. The second championship in the WFA would again come down to the last few plays and have a score differential of only 4 points. The Lone Star Mustangs (American Conference - Dallas/Fort Worth) defeated the Columbus Comets (National Conference - Columbus, Ohio) to become the second National Champions of the WFA by a score of 16-12.

2011

As the Women's Football Alliance prepared for the 2011 season, they were scheduled to have over 60 teams playing across the United States. They again grew due in part to new teams starting and in part due to established teams moving in from other leagues, most notably the New York Sharks,[1] D.C. Divas,[2] Chicago Force,[3] Dallas Diamonds, and Kansas City Tribe.[4] In the 2011 WFA championship, the Boston Militia defeated the San Diego Surge 34-19 to claim the title.

2012

The WFA opened the season with 60 teams. The 2012 WFA National Championship game took place at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home stadium of the NFL franchise Pittsburgh Steelers; it was the first women's football championship game to be played in an NFL stadium.[5] After losing the title game in the previous season, the San Diego Surge returned to win the 2012 championship 40-36 over the Chicago Force.

2013

The WFA opened the season with 50 teams. Running back Whitney Zelee (Boston Militia) made headlines in 2013 by becoming the league's first player to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a football season, setting a league record of 2,128 yards.[6] After losing the title game in the previous season, the Chicago Force returned to win the 2013 championship over the Dallas Diamonds 81-34 at Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California.

2014

The WFA opened the season with 42 teams. The Boston Militia became the league's first two-time champion in 2014, winning 69-34 in a title rematch with the San Diego Surge at Lane Tech Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. During championship weekend, the league introduced a new mid-major bowl game: the Alliance Bowl. The Seattle Majestics of the American Conference faced the Indy Crash of the National Conference in a contest to "showcase of the depth of quality teams that exist in the Women's Football Alliance." [7] The Indy Crash prevailed 26-12. This season was also notable for the introduction of Kenneth Massey Ratings into the league's playoffs system.

Teams

American Conference

Northwest Division

Team Location Home Field
Everett Reign Everett, Washington Everett Memorial Stadium
Portland Fighting Fillies Milwaukie, Oregon La Salle High School
Portland Shockwave Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro Stadium
Seattle Majestics Kent, Washington French Field
Tacoma Trauma University Place, Washington Curtis Senior High School
Utah Blitz Salt Lake City, Utah Judge Memorial Catholic High School

Pacific West Division

Team Location Home Field
Central Cal War Angels Fresno, California Chávez High School (Delano, California)
Pacific Warriors Carson, California Carson High School
Sin City Sun Devils Las Vegas, Nevada
San Diego Surge Santee, California Santana High School

Pacific South Division

Team Location Home Field
Arizona Assassins Phoenix, Arizona Washington High School
Ventura County Wolfpack Ventura, California
West Coast Lightning Temecula, California Linfield Christian School

Great Plains Division

Team Location Home Field
Kansas City Titans Overland Park, Kansas Shawnee Mission South High School
Minnesota Machine Woodbury, Minnesota Woodbury High School
St. Louis Slam St. Louis, Missouri

Gulf Coast Division

Team Location Home Field
Acadiana Zydeco Opelousas, Louisiana Donald Gardner Stadium
Arkansas Wildcats Little Rock, Arkansas
Tulsa Threat Tulsa, Oklahoma Lafortune Stadium

Southwest Division

Team Location Home Field
Arlington Impact Arlington, Texas
Austin Outlaws Round Rock, Texas Round Rock Independent School District Athletic Complex
Dallas Elite Dallas, Texas
Houston Power Rosenberg, Texas Lamar Consolidated High School
South Texas Lady Crushers Corpus Christi, Texas

National Conference

Great Lakes Division

Team Location Home Field
Chicago Force Evanston, Illinois Evanston Township High School
Derby City Dynamite Louisville, Kentucky Cardinal Stadium
Detroit Dark Angels Westland, Michigan John Glenn High School
Indy Crash Indianapolis, Indiana Marian University
West Michigan Mayhem Kalamazoo, Michigan Soisson-Rapacz-Clason Field

New England Division

Team Location Home Field
Boston Renegades Somerville, Massachusetts Dilboy Stadium

Mid-Atlantic Division

Team Location Home Field
Central Maryland Seahawks Woodlawn, Maryland Woodlawn High School
Cleveland Fusion Cleveland, Ohio Case Western Reserve University
Columbus Comets Grove City, Ohio Grove City Christian School
D.C. Divas Landover, Maryland Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex

North Atlantic Division

Team Location Home Field
Atlanta Phoenix Sandy Springs, Georgia North Springs Charter School of Arts and Sciences
Jacksonville Dixie Blues Jacksonville, Florida University Christian School

South Atlantic Division

Team Location Home Field
Daytona Wave Runners Daytona Beach, Florida Municipal Stadium
Miami Fury North Miami, Florida Cagni Park and North Miami Athletic Park
Orlando Anarchy Orlando, Florida Colonial High School
Tampa Bay Inferno Tampa, Florida Skyway Park

Former WFA teams playing elsewhere

WFA National Championship results

YearWinnerLoserScore
2009St. Louis SlamWest Michigan Mayhem21-14
2010Lone Star MustangsColumbus Comets16-12
2011Boston MilitiaSan Diego Surge34-19
2012San Diego SurgeChicago Force40-36
2013Chicago ForceDallas Diamonds81-34
2014Boston MilitiaSan Diego Surge69-34

Alliance Bowl results

YearWinnerLoserScore
2014Indy CrashSeattle Majestics26-12

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.alternet.org/culture/149446/new_york_sharks_women_tackle_the_football_world
  2. ↑ http://www.gazette.net/gazettecms/story.php?id=2010
  3. ↑ http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/call-of-the-wild/2010/11/chicago-force-begin-try-outs-ladies-are-you-ready-to-play-some-football.html
  4. ↑ http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2010/08/kansas_city_tribe.php
  5. ↑ "Heinz Field To Host SilverSport Women’s Football Alliance National Championship". Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh Steelers. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Staffieri, Mark. "Whitney Zelee Emerging as the Finest Running Back in All of Women's Football". Bleacher Report. Bleacher Report. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "2014 WFA National Championship Weekend" (PRESS RELEASE). wfafootball.net. Women's Football Alliance. Retrieved 23 September 2014.

External links