KICKING STORM UP A
by
Katie Dow
The Nevada Storm is Reno’s full-contact women’s football team
I
’m not going to bury the lead here: Reno has a semi-pro, fullcontact women’s football team. They’re called the Nevada Storm, and they’re a big group of tough ladies who really love football. They love it so much, in fact, that they spend hundreds of dollars out of pocket each season to remain active in the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA), the top tier of semi-pro women’s football. They don’t have a regular practice field or a huge fan base, but what they lack in support, they make up for in dedication and determination. Sharon Seirer is a seasoned football player who has played for several semi-pro teams. “Usually
Photo/Eric Marks
The Nevada Storm in action against the Utah Blitz.
16 | RN&R |
APRIL 24, 2014
when we say we play women’s football, everyone asks ‘Is it the lingerie league?’ And it’s like, no, definitely not the lingerie league. We’re semipro, you know, we have uniforms, we have standards, we go by NCAA rules, there’s a couple of leagues, there’s thousands of women across the U.S. that play in the league.” The Storm started as a 6-woman team a few years ago, playing only for kicks and a few family members and close friends. Steadily over time they have moved up the ranks, gaining players and coaches, moving into an 8-woman league, and finally into an 11-woman league in the West Coast division of the WFA, which is host to 64 teams across the country. Assistant coach Willie Seirer describes the league as “on the level of men’s baseball in the '20s and '30s. It’s road trips, there’s not luxury suites, there’s no airplanes flying anywhere, it’s get in the back of the
van and go.” He suggests that this lack of luxury and grandeur creates a purer form of football. “To my mind, it’s the purest form of the sport,” he said. “Nobody here is making money. They’re all here for the love of the game. They put in the hard work, they put in the knocks, they endure the injuries just for the love of the sport.”
Gathering Storm
Money to support the team comes solely from fundraising efforts, donations and out-of-pocket contributions from the players themselves. Rookies pay a $500 fee their first season and returning players shell out $400. The money covers basic costs like uniforms, referees for games, and field bookings. Players and coaches say the Nevada Storm could get a lot further in the league with more support from the community. “We’ve got to build up a reputation and build up a rapport with the community,” said Brandon
McGrath, the Storm’s head coach. “Hopefully [we can] get enough people to notice that it’s a fantastic sport and that they play hard and fast and fun and that it’s a good thing to spend 5 bucks on a Saturday to come watch a game.” Expenses are not the only obstacles these women face while trying to make a name for themselves in football. For the most part, the team relies on word-of-mouth and social media outlets like Facebook for recruitment, which makes it difficult to get a good turnout to expand their ranks. Janine Bodo, a trainer for the team as well as a team member, said, “Reno is a lot smaller than the other places that we compete against, so getting a full roster of girls is another challenge.” In addition, they are constantly vying with other recreationalists for field space as they do not have a permanent set-up for practice.
“We have a hard time getting athletic directors to commit to letting us use their field. We don’t even have a regular field to practice on,” Willie Seirer said. “We share [practice space] with the people who come out to play soccer. Some days we get pushed off the field, we have to go to a different one.” But it’s not all bad news for the Storm. There’s positive feedback coming from the community—at least from those who’ve heard of them. Megan Aguayo, a player on the team, describes some of the responses she’s heard. “Anytime anybody sees me in my shirt or hears that I play football, they have a ton of questions like, ‘You mean you really wear pads and hit each other, like you play real football?' That is so cool!’”
