Rising popularity in women’s sports has increased viewership and opportunities for women to create new lanes in authentic spaces. While female representation in football has had a few notable moments over the last two decades, football has rarely been seen as a sustainable sport for women without involving some type of provocative element.
Flag football (powderpuff) helped, but the missing element of the violence from tackle football ultimately made it less desirable on the professional level. The Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) was created in 2009 but gained major attention over the last five years, leading them to have national broadcasting of the national championship on major sporting networks such as ESPN, Women’s Sports Network, Eleven Sports, and Comcast.
WFA became the largest women’s tackle football league and home to the most successful and longest-standing franchises in women’s football history, with over 50 teams. Cali War, the California team, is 5-1 and preparing for the playoffs against the Minnesota Vixen, a second meeting in three weeks.
The last two games for Cali War have been on opposite sides of the spectrum as they faced Nevada Storm for the second time this season, hoping for revenge from a season-opening loss. This game started with Storm taking an early 16-0 lead, looking unstoppable on offense and causing havoc with turnovers on defense. But, with a halftime speech led by the players, Cali War made a comeback, ending the game 34-16 for the win.
“I was thinking it was time to stop playing with these girls! At halftime, emotions were at an all-time high. I was pissed and frustrated because that first half was not Cali War Ball,” defensive back Smitty Jones said about halftime adjustments. “There were communication issues from both coaches and players, so everything was out of whack, but once we got on the same page and settled our emotions, we locked in and played Cali War football.” Jones started the second half, causing a fumble on kickoff and setting up the offense for the early score.
On offense, “Brianna “Spidey” Barrett was the spark to ignite the scoring barrage as she finished with three touchdowns and over 120 total yards. “I believe we shifted our mindset in the second half as a team. Our offense made major adjustments from mistakes made in the first half, and we all locked in. We all played our part to help the offense move the sticks, and eventually, we started scoring and playing Cali War Football the way we know how.” Spidey said. “Once we started getting in our groove, our offense moved smoothly like butter.”
In the following game, Cali War was in a complete shootout with the Vixens in a 64-61 playoff-clinching win. Spidey led the way on offense with five total touchdowns, followed by Alyssa Williams with two receiving touchdowns, with Nori Washington and Sean Caldwell having a touchdown each. The defense came in clutch at the end to stop the Vixens from scoring on their last drive. Now, Cali War prepares for the challenge of playing the Vixens in back-to-back weeks, hoping to replicate the same result as the first game.
To learn more about the Cali War women’s football team and to support them, visit www.caliwar.com.
