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First and goal
By RYAN MALDONADO ST. PETERSBURG -- More than 2,000 yards rushed in 10 games. It's a feat that neither Barry Sanders nor Walter Payton, legendary NFL runningbacks, could even imagine. An undefeated regular season record. Only Don Shula's 1972 Miami Dolphins could do it. These are numbers professional football may never see again. That is, men's professional football. A few trailblazing women are making these marks now, right here in St. Petersburg. And they call themselves the Tampa Bay Force. Fully dressed and padded in intimidating blue, red and black uniforms, the all-women football team is about to celebrate its first year as a franchise, and is well on the way to winning the Women's American Football League's first-ever Superbowl, set to be played in California in late February. The Force ended the regular season 10-0 earlier this month with the best record in the league, earning home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They eliminated the Orlando Fire from the first round Saturday at the 31st Steet Complex, winning 31-20. The charge was led by Diana Moore, who returned an 80-yard punt on the Force's first possession of the game. Sabrina Herring-Kelly, who rushed for 2,000 yards during the regular season, scored two touchdowns and ran 210 yards on seven carries.
"This team definitely goes where she's going," said coach Charles Gunn, the team's offensive coordinator. "And I'm really happy with how the defense has played." The victory Saturday clinched another playoff round for the Force, who will host the Jacksonville Dixie Blues on Saturday. The victor will travel to California for the WAFL Superbowl. The Force has been picked to win Saturday's game, but the players refuse to let their guards down. "Our ladies were very eager to get to practice to get busy against Jacksonville," coach Gunn said. "They've come this far -- I really don't think they're going to back down." But for the Force, the road to a national championship may not be their toughest obstacle. Tampa Bay's management and its players say they have a bigger concern: the future of the team and the league, finding big-name sponsors and getting America to take a few ladies who want to play football seriously. "Our whole journey has been a fine line because we've had to sell ourselves so hard to show that what we're doing is meaningful," said Lynne Williams, the team's co-owner and general manager. "Not only do we have to successfully manage and maintain our households, we have to successfully manage and maintain our football teams." "It started with a Web site and a bunch of logos," said Cyndi Dwyer, the WAFL commissioner, who is based in Key West. She said a coach from another women's football league who had been kicked out created team logos on his Web site asking those interested to "pick up the slack" and form a new league with new teams. From there, the WAFL was born, playing its first official regular season game Oct. 27. "By the grace of God and very strong women, they put something together," Dwyer said. According to Williams, the only difference between the WAFL and the NFL is that players aren't given contracts. Instead of contracts, they're given pay bonuses at the end of the season to cover minor expenses. The average game for the Force brings in about $3,000 with concessions. Williams said it frustrates her to not pay her players regularly, but she's more concerned with keeping the team on the field.
She and co-owner Karen Capps pay for road games, traveling by bus. Williams and Capps owned a massage therapy clinic in south Tampa, which along with local sponsorship, helped pay for team expenses. The little pay offered to players meant the league would attract women with full-time day jobs, like Herring-Kelly who works at the post office or her long-time friend Garlynn "G" Boyd who works at the Southside Boys and Girls Club. Boyd, an offensive linewoman and former Dixie Hollins shotputter and weightlifter, had been playing with another league when she asked Herring-Kelly to join. The next year she tried out for the Force where she was reunited with Boyd. "I want to be the person that puts women's football on the map," Herring-Kelly said. "Once I step on the field, I get into my own zone and do what Sabrina has to do with the talent I've been given." Out of high school, Herring-Kelly was thought to be one of the world's 10 fastest runners, competing on the United States' 4x100 relay team in the 1995 World Championships. She broke the national junior college 100-meter record that year with an 11.19 at San Jacinto College. But in 1998, while attending the University of Texas at Austin, Herring-Kelly got into a serious car accident, severely injuring her hip and barring her from the track. She said football has been a stepping stone for her to get back to running track. "When I get into a set of blocks, it bothers me, but it doesn't bother when I play football," Herring-Kelly said. "But (with football), I can tell that I haven't really lost a step -- I'm still as fast as I can be." Williams said sponsorship will make or break the future of women's football. While the few fans that do attend games enjoy watching the women play respectable football, big-name companies have failed to pledge their support, she said. "We're looking for . . . the solidarity to put this on TV," Capps said. "We would really like to see the city of Tampa or St. Petersburg step up and build a women's sports complex." For now, the WAFL is making plans to merge about eight of its teams, including the Force, with the more popular Women's Professional Football League. The WPFL started in 1998 and has already received approval from the NFL. "They take the approach that they're going to make it happen," Dwyer said. "What women's football lacks is the unity and we're starting to get towards that." Williams approves of the merger but said it will take a lot of time and effort to gain the popularity they need and get "a male dominated society" to understand that women can play. As a little girl, Capps, who's also an offensive linewoman with the Force, grew up watching men's football on television with her father. She said she would play with her friends every chance she got. "I could always figure out why they ran this way or that way," Capps said. "I never thought I'd get a chance to play." Breaking down the Force and the WAFLFirst Game: Oct. 27, 2001 Season ends in February with a national championship game called the Superbowl Teams: 16 teams from all over the country, including six teams from California. League: divided in two divisions, East and West. Teams play only in their division. The Force plays against four teams: The Orlando Fire, the Jacksonville Dixie Blues, the New Orleans Voodoo Dolls and the Alabama Slammers Pay: Players are paid based on the individual teams' revenues. Revenues, in most cases, are based on ticket sales, concessions, and sponsors. Rules: The WAFL consideres itselve a professional league, playing with the same rules used in the NFL, the same 100 yards, point-system and game time. Players: The 37 players were picked in team tryouts before the start of the season. Players on the Force range from age 18 to 42, weigh between 120 and 325 lbs., from 5-foot-1 to 6-foot-1. Tickets: $10 for adults, $7 for students and senior citizens, and free for children under 5. Other local leagues: The Independent Women's Football League, which plays in the fall. The local team is called the Tampa Tempest. Official Web site: www.thewafl.com or www.tampabayforce.comwww.tampabayforce.com Source: www.thewafl.com and Cyndi Dwyer, league commissioner
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