Post by Banana Cat on Jun 30, 2012 17:04:57 GMT -5
No way they get 24 teams by Spring 2013. In fact the league may never even get off the ground. Houston is the only team organized so far and they're exhibition next month is a scrimmage against themselves.
www.defendernetwork.com/women%E2%80%99s-arena-football-league-debuts/
www.defendernetwork.com/women%E2%80%99s-arena-football-league-debuts/
Women’s arena football league debuts
Are you ready for some football – some women’s arena football? Well Houston- area businessman Ivan Tompkins is banking that you are. He is the owner of the new Women’s Arena Football League as well as the general manager of the Houston franchise, the Lady Oilers.
The league is set to begin in earnest during the spring of 2013, and will consist of women playing indoor football with arena style rules. They will play with eight persons per side, clad in custom volleyball style tights with shoulder pads, jerseys and helmets. The play will be full contact, and since it’s arena football – with a 50-yard indoor field – expect the action to be fast-paced.
Tompkins has aggressive plans for a 24-team league playing in two conferences. To give fans an idea of what they can expect, the WAFL will play a series of six exhibition games, the first featuring the Lady Oilers, Saturday, July 21, at the George R Brown Convention Center.
So the question on everybody’s mind is why women playing arena football? Tompkins is pleased to explain.
“Football is an extremely popular sport,” Tompkins said. “Women watch football with their husbands, boyfriends, co-workers, etcetera. Many of the women that love the game are former athletes in other sports – track, gymnastics, basketball, softball, MMA [mixed martial arts], you name it.
“Many of these ‘girl-next-door’ types still have competitive fires that still burn and since they enjoy watching the game, given the opportunity, they’d like to take a crack at playing.”
“We think that the WAFL will be a form of sports entertainment that will be very exciting, affordable, family fun,” Tomkins continued. “We’ve got some really athletic young ladies who have been working extremely hard practicing for the past few months.
“Our coaches have a wealth of arena football experience and have shown to be very patient in getting the ladies up to speed on the nuisances of the game of football. I think fans will be pleasantly surprised with the product they see when they come out on July 21st.”
For any prospective sports league to be successful there needs to be a relationship with television and the WAFL has garnered some attention.
“There is a television distribution agreement in place,” Tomkins said. “The agreement will allow our product to be shopped to the television networks. There has been a tremendous amount of interest both domestically and internationally, to not only show the games, but to develop a reality show featuring our players.”
The Lady Oilers are being prepared for battle by head coach Dwayne Ware. A former University of Michigan and men’s Arena football standout, Ware is excited about the task of developing the Lady Oiler personnel from scratch.
“We’ve got some very athletic ladies that are competing for a spot on the Lady Oilers,” Ware said. “You can expect to see a lot of athleticism when you watch our players. Fans will be surprised when they see how well they run, throw, catch and of course hit. Since ladies don’t grow up playing the game, we’ve had to adapt how we teach the game. You can’t talk terminology to the women. The best way to teach this type of game is visualization and repetition of football drills.
“We don’t give them a lot of terminology. Let them do the drills and explain to them the importance of the drills later. Too much information can overwhelm them. I’m pleased to say have really responded well and you’ll be able to see it on the field,” Ware said.
Ware thinks the combination of athletic women playing the Arena-style game is a recipe for outstanding family entertainment.
“The key to Arena football is that it is a very fast-paced, fan-friendly event,” Ware explained. “The fans can actually interface with the players while they’re playing. You are right on top of the action. Fans actually feel like they’re a part of the game.”
Linebacker Jennifer Scott (5-feet-7, 135 pounds) is a perfect example of the type of athlete that has responded to the WAFL challenge. She put a promising career as a boxer and MMA fighter on hold to try her hand at football and so far she’s pleased with her progress.
“A guy friend of mine dared me to try out for the team when we saw the WAFL flyer,” Scott explained. “I’m a big football fan, but of course I’ve never played before. I think I’m a really good athlete, but it’s been a real learning experience. I’m used to being trained from my boxing background, so the physical fitness aspect and coaching doesn’t bother me.
“I’m very aggressive and I like to hit people so of course I’m on defense,” Scott said. “There are a lot of similarities between the techniques we use in MMA and techniques we use to play defense. I’m really having a good time with it.”
Are you ready for some football – some women’s arena football? Well Houston- area businessman Ivan Tompkins is banking that you are. He is the owner of the new Women’s Arena Football League as well as the general manager of the Houston franchise, the Lady Oilers.
The league is set to begin in earnest during the spring of 2013, and will consist of women playing indoor football with arena style rules. They will play with eight persons per side, clad in custom volleyball style tights with shoulder pads, jerseys and helmets. The play will be full contact, and since it’s arena football – with a 50-yard indoor field – expect the action to be fast-paced.
Tompkins has aggressive plans for a 24-team league playing in two conferences. To give fans an idea of what they can expect, the WAFL will play a series of six exhibition games, the first featuring the Lady Oilers, Saturday, July 21, at the George R Brown Convention Center.
So the question on everybody’s mind is why women playing arena football? Tompkins is pleased to explain.
“Football is an extremely popular sport,” Tompkins said. “Women watch football with their husbands, boyfriends, co-workers, etcetera. Many of the women that love the game are former athletes in other sports – track, gymnastics, basketball, softball, MMA [mixed martial arts], you name it.
“Many of these ‘girl-next-door’ types still have competitive fires that still burn and since they enjoy watching the game, given the opportunity, they’d like to take a crack at playing.”
“We think that the WAFL will be a form of sports entertainment that will be very exciting, affordable, family fun,” Tomkins continued. “We’ve got some really athletic young ladies who have been working extremely hard practicing for the past few months.
“Our coaches have a wealth of arena football experience and have shown to be very patient in getting the ladies up to speed on the nuisances of the game of football. I think fans will be pleasantly surprised with the product they see when they come out on July 21st.”
For any prospective sports league to be successful there needs to be a relationship with television and the WAFL has garnered some attention.
“There is a television distribution agreement in place,” Tomkins said. “The agreement will allow our product to be shopped to the television networks. There has been a tremendous amount of interest both domestically and internationally, to not only show the games, but to develop a reality show featuring our players.”
The Lady Oilers are being prepared for battle by head coach Dwayne Ware. A former University of Michigan and men’s Arena football standout, Ware is excited about the task of developing the Lady Oiler personnel from scratch.
“We’ve got some very athletic ladies that are competing for a spot on the Lady Oilers,” Ware said. “You can expect to see a lot of athleticism when you watch our players. Fans will be surprised when they see how well they run, throw, catch and of course hit. Since ladies don’t grow up playing the game, we’ve had to adapt how we teach the game. You can’t talk terminology to the women. The best way to teach this type of game is visualization and repetition of football drills.
“We don’t give them a lot of terminology. Let them do the drills and explain to them the importance of the drills later. Too much information can overwhelm them. I’m pleased to say have really responded well and you’ll be able to see it on the field,” Ware said.
Ware thinks the combination of athletic women playing the Arena-style game is a recipe for outstanding family entertainment.
“The key to Arena football is that it is a very fast-paced, fan-friendly event,” Ware explained. “The fans can actually interface with the players while they’re playing. You are right on top of the action. Fans actually feel like they’re a part of the game.”
Linebacker Jennifer Scott (5-feet-7, 135 pounds) is a perfect example of the type of athlete that has responded to the WAFL challenge. She put a promising career as a boxer and MMA fighter on hold to try her hand at football and so far she’s pleased with her progress.
“A guy friend of mine dared me to try out for the team when we saw the WAFL flyer,” Scott explained. “I’m a big football fan, but of course I’ve never played before. I think I’m a really good athlete, but it’s been a real learning experience. I’m used to being trained from my boxing background, so the physical fitness aspect and coaching doesn’t bother me.
“I’m very aggressive and I like to hit people so of course I’m on defense,” Scott said. “There are a lot of similarities between the techniques we use in MMA and techniques we use to play defense. I’m really having a good time with it.”