Women's Professional Football League
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| Women's Professional Football League | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 1999 |
| No. of teams | 15 |
| Country |  United States |
| Current champions | Dallas Diamonds |
The Women's Professional Football League (WPFL) is the original and longest operating women's professional American football league in the United States. Now with teams across the United States, the WPFL had its first game in 1999 with just two original teams: the Lake Michigan Minx and the Minnesota Vixens. Fifteen teams nationwide competed for the championship in 2006.
The league has been recognized in national media campaigns, has been recognized in the book Atta Girl, and even had a team (the New England Storm) that has a commercial relationship with an NFL team, the 2004 Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. The Storm have since been expelled from the league.
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[edit] History
In the early 1960s, many women thought that sports in the US were sexist and needed a shift in another direction, moving beyond the stereotype that all women were passive. This sentiment formed the background for the women's football league that was started in order to prove that women had the power to do what men did, with hopes that people would enjoy women's football as much as they did men's. In 1965, the name changed to its current incarnation. Since there were no college women's teams in the US, most of their athletes came from basketball, rugby, and soccer. After a few years, the sport began to fade.
In 1999 two businessmen, Carter Turner and Terry Sullivan,[1] decide to research the feasibility of a professional women’s football league by gathering together top female athletes into two teams and playing an exhibition game in front of an audience. The game between the Lake Michigan Minx and the Minnesota Vixens at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota was a success and turned into a six game exhibition tour across the country[2] dubbed the “No Limits” Barnstorming Tour.[3]
The success of the barnstorming tour led to the first official WPFL season in 2000 with 11 teams competing nationwide.[4] This first season ended with some turmoil however; the regular season was shortened by several games, players were not given their promised $100 per-game salaries, and there were allegations regarding instability with some of the league's financial backers.[5]
The WPFL rebounded the next year completing the 2001 season after several organizational changes. Notable changes included the departure of founders Sullivan and Turner (Turner then founded the WAFL),[6] the purchase of the league by three WPFL team owners: Dee Kennerner, Melissa Korpacz, and Robin Howington,[7] changes to player/team compensation, and the moving of the start of the season from fall to summer.[8]
[edit] Effects
Fifteen teams competed in the 2006 WPFL season. The league has hundreds of players and is growing, but the league is more "semi-pro" as all of the athletes do not earn enough money to make a living. However, the league still refers to them as professional athletes. Other leagues that connect to women's football include the United Football League, the Independent Women's Football League, the National Women's Football Association and the Women's Football League. Unfortunately, these individual leagues do not see eye-to-eye, so the possibility of forming one unified league is not likely. Due to the efforts of these organizations, some women's teams are allowed to play in some of the million-dollar domes and arenas originally built for men's teams. Noted stadiums include the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, and some of the high facilitated places in Detroit, Michigan.
[edit] Teams
[edit] American Conference
- Connecticut Cyclones
- Dallas Diamonds
- Empire State Roar
- Las Vegas Showgirlz
- Los Angeles Amazons
- New England Intensity
- New Mexico Burn
- So Cal Scorpions
[edit] National Conference
- Cape Fear Thunder
- Carolina Queens
- Houston Energy
- Indiana Speed
- Minnesota Vixen
- Toledo Reign
- Wisconsin Wolves
[edit] Former teams
- Albany Ambush (withdrew from 2006 schedule)
- Tulsa Black Widows (withdrew from 2006 schedule)
- Austin Rage (withdrew from 2003 schedule)
- New England Storm (expelled)
- Pacific Blast (withdrew from 2003 schedule)
- Missouri Prowlers (folded)
- Florida Stingrays (folded)
- Wisconsin Riveters (expelled)
- Syracuse Sting 2001-2004
- Arizona Caliente
- Georgia Gladiators
- Long Beach Aftershock
- San Francisco Stingrays
- New York Dazzles
- Northern Ice
[edit] Championships
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Lake Michigan Minx | 30-27 | Minnesota Vixens |
| 2000 | Houston Energy | 39-7 | New England Storm |
| 2001 | Houston Energy | 47-14 | Austin Rage |
| 2002 | Houston Energy | 56-7 | Wisconsin Riveters |
| 2003 | Northern Ice | 47-12 | Florida Stingrays |
| 2004 | Dallas Diamonds | 68-13 | Northern Ice |
| 2005 | Dallas Diamonds | 61-8 | New York Dazzles |
| 2006 | Dallas Diamonds | 34-27 | Houston Energy |
[edit] See also
- Independent Women's Football League (IWFL)
- National Women's Football Association
- Women's American Football League (WAFL)
- American Football Women's League (AWFL)
- List of leagues of American football
