The National Women's Football Association (NWFA) was a full-contact
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
league for women headquartered in
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the
Alabama Renegades and the
Nashville Dream played each other six times in exhibition games. The opening season was in 2001 featuring ten teams.
The NWFA did not officially field any teams for the 2009 season.
The NWFA was originally called the National Women's Football League, but changed its name after the 2002 season. The name change came after pressure from the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
.
The NFL also required the league to change the logos of some teams whose logos resembled those of NFL teams.
League founder Catherine Masters was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
League rules
NWFA teams played according to standard
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
rules with the following notable exceptions:
* TDY-sized football
* only one foot in-bounds is required for a reception
* no blocking below the waist downfield
List of teams
* IWFL =
Independent Women's Football League
* WFA =
Women's Football Alliance
The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a semi-pro full-contact women's American football league in the United States. Founded in 2009, it is the largest 11-on-11 football league for women in the world, and the longest running active women's ...
* WSFL =
Women's Spring Football League
The United States Women's Football League (USWFL) is a full-contact women's American football minor league that opened with exhibition play in 2010 and subsequently played its first regular season in 2011. The league was known as the "Women's Sp ...
Championship games
*
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
Philadelphia Liberty Belles 40,
Pensacola Power 7
*
2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
Detroit Danger 48,
Massachusetts Mutiny 30
*
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
Detroit Demolition 28,
Pensacola Power 21
*
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
Detroit Demolition 52,
Oklahoma City Lightning 0
*
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
Detroit Demolition 74,
Pensacola Power 0
*
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
D.C. Divas 28,
Oklahoma City Lightning 7
*
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
Pittsburgh Passion
The Pittsburgh Passion are a women's professional American football team based in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The Passion compete in the Women's Football Alliance (WFA) as a member of the National Conference. Founded in 2002, the Passion ...
32,
Columbus Comets 0
*
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
H-Town Texas Cyclones 39,
West Michigan Mayhem 10
See also
*
Women's football in the United States
*
List of leagues of American football
This is a list of current and defunct leagues of American football and Canadian football.
Leagues in North America
Current professional leagues in North America
Professional outdoor leagues
''Major:''
* National Football League (NFL), 1 ...
*
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
The WNBA w ...
References
External links
American Football Association
{{Major women's sport leagues in North America
Women's American football leagues
2000 establishments in the United States
2008 disestablishments in the United States
Sports leagues established in 2000
Sports leagues disestablished in 2008