The Huntsville Tigers is a women's

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team located in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

. The Tigers played their first season of full-contact football in the spring of 2012. This was the Tigers' first season as a new team. The team consists of former Alabama Renegades and Tennessee Valley Tigers players as well as a number of new players.

History

Alabama Renegades

Women's football has existed in the Huntsville area since the fall of 2000 when the Alabama Renegades first came into existence. The Renegades were one of the founding teams of the

National Women's Football Association The National Women's Football Association (NWFA) was a full-contact American football league for women headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the Alabama Renegades ...

(NWFA). In the fall 2000, the Alabama Renegades and the

Nashville Dream The Nashville Dream was a women's professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They were one of the founding teams of the National Women's Football Association. The team was active from 2000 to 2007 and last played at the Gle ...

played a six-game exhibition season to determine the viability of a women's full-contact football league. The exhibition games were a huge success and the

(NWFA) expanded to 12 teams in its first full season of play in the spring of 2001. Ray Quinn was the man who first brought full-contact football to Huntsville and he owned the team for two years. Nancy Byrd, a Renegades player, took over the team from Quinn in 2003. Byrd continued to play for the Renegades while owning the team. At the end of the 2008 season Byrd retired from playing and put the team up for sale. Byrd later stated: "I decided to retire from playing and no one was willing to take on the responsibility of running this team. I appreciate the opportunity Ray and Catherine Masters (NWFA founder) gave me to play football", stated Byrd. The NWFA league ceased operations that same year.

Tennessee Valley Tigers

Carlos Mathews, the former offensive coordinator for the Renegades, realized the potential for women's football in the Huntsville area and decided to explore ways to bring the game back for a 2009 season. Mathews researched several leagues but only found one with the stability needed to support women's football in the Huntsville Area. The Tigers officially joined the

Independent Women's Football League The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) was the first Women's American football league established by women players for women players. The league was founded in 2000, began play in 2001, and played its last season in 2018. Members of the ...

(IWFL) on August 12, 2008, as a Tier II team. On October 24, 2011, after learning that Carlos Matthews wasn't bringing the team back, former player Carmelesia Sullivan looked into forming a team.Boo's Unofficial Guide to Women's Tackle Football
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Huntsville Tigers

Sullivan formed the Huntsville Tigers from former Tennessee Valley Tigers players. In the first season of play, the Tigers finished with a 5–3 record, losing twice to the

Chattanooga Locomotion The Chattanooga Locomotion was a team in the Independent Women's Football League based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Home games were played on the campus of Red Bank High School. From their inception in 2001 until 2008, the Locomotion played in th ...

- another Tier II team - and once to the

Atlanta Xplosion The Atlanta Xplosion, known as the Atlanta Ravens for the year of 2011, was a football team in the Independent Women's Football League. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the Xplosion played their home games in nearby Smyrna, Georgia at Campbell High Sch ...

- a Tier I team in 2009. The Tigers also defeated then ranked number seven

Clarksville Fox The Clarksville Fox is a football team in the Independent Women's Football League. Based in Clarksville, Tennessee, the Fox play their home games on the campus of Northwest High School. History 2007 The Fox were formed in 2007 as a member of t ...

who in the 2008 season had competed for the

Tier II championship. The Tigers played their home games at

Milton Frank Stadium Milton Frank Stadium is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Huntsville, Alabama. It was used for Alabama A&M football games before the creation of Louis Crews Stadium. It is currently used mainly for Huntsville City Schools high school and m ...

. Because of the devastating effects of the

2011 Super Outbreak The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest, costliest, and one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded, taking place in the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States from April 25–28, 2011, leaving catastrophic destruction ...

, the Tigers had to forfeit their final two regular-season games. On August 30, the Tigers announced they had left the IWFL to join the WSFL.

Season-By-Season

, - , 2000 , , 3 , , 3 , , 0 , , ''Exhibition Season'' , , -- , - , 2001 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd Southern , , -- , - , 2002 , , 7 , , 2 , , 0 , , 1st Central , , Lost Southern Conference Semifinal (

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

) , - , 2003 , , 7 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2nd Southern Central , , Won Southern Conference Quarterfinal (

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

)
Lost Southern Conference Semifinal (

) , - , 2004 , , 6 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd Southern Gulf Coast , , -- , - , 2005 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 7th Southern , , -- , - , 2006 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd Southern Southeast , , -- , - , 2007 , , 3 , , 5 , , 0 , , 3rd Southern Central , , -- , - , 2008 , , 2 , , 6 , , 0 , , 4th Southern East , , -- , - !Totals , , 42 , , 33 , , 0 , , , , , - , colspan="2", , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Tennessee Valley Tigers (IWFL) , - , 2009 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 10th Tier II , , -- , - , 2010 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd Tier II East Southeast , , -- , - , 2011 , , 1 , , 7 , , 0 , , 5th East Mid-South , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Tennessee Valley Tigers (WSFL) , - , 2012* , , -- , , -- , , -- , , -- , , -- , - !Totals , , 10 , , 14 , , 0 , colspan="2", * = Current Standing

2011 schedule

** = Won by forfeit *** = Forfeited

Single season records

2011 roster

2012 season

Staff

* Owner/Offensive Coordinator - Carlos Mathews * Offensive Line Coach - Ella Banghart * Assistant Defensive Coach - JJ Johnson * Delegate - Brady Wakefield * Marketing/Sales - Jamie Flynt * Acting General Manager - Carson Wakefield

Notes

External links

Tennessee Valley Tigers official website
{{Alabama Sports American football teams in Alabama American football teams established in 2000 Independent Women's Football League American football in Huntsville, Alabama Women's Spring Football League teams Women's sports in Alabama 2020 establishments in Alabama