Newsday (New York) July 6, 2003 Sunday QUEENS EDITION SECTION: QUEENS LIFE, Pg.

G06 LENGTH: 1293 words HEADLINE: Shark Attack; Undefeated on the field and unbowed by a lack of fans, the champs of women's football are inspired by love of the game BYLINE: By Alan Krawitz. Alan Krawitz is a freelance writer. BODY: What if New York Jets owner Woody Johnson also were the team's backup quarterback? And what of quarterback Chad Pennington? Would he still be directing Jets scoring drives if he had to pay for the privilege of playing? These scenarios seem surreal in the high-profile, big business world of the National Football League. But, in the fledgling world of women's professional football, the surreal is real. It's been an unbeatable season for the New York Sharks. The 9-0 undefeated franchise of the Independent Women's Football League and Eastern Conference champion held opponents to only 12 points for the season. They're now poised, once again, to face the western division for national bragging rights. With last year's championship already under their belts, those bragging rights have been hard won for the players who pay to play, including the owner who doubles as a back-up quarterback. For the uninitiated, the Sharks team is one of 23 teams in the full-tackle league, which plays April through July, and is one of more than 125 such women's professional football teams playing in eight leagues in the United States. But these Sharks, who started as a flag football team and began playing full-tackle football in 2000, are much more than a group of dedicated weekend warriors. The Sharks, who switched to the IWFL for the 2002 season, topped the Bay State Warriors, 20-6, last weekend to advance to the championship, where they will face the Sacramento Sirens. But the Sharks continue to find their effort a labor of love, even as the 40-member team's stellar play has fueled its march toward Saturday's title game and trophy at St. John's University. In addition to being unable to secure major corporate sponsorship, the Sharks have failed to fill the stands at August Martin High School in Jamaica and for the most part fly under the radar of both the media and the NFL.

"I'd like to earn enough money so the players can just focus on football," said team owner Andra Douglas, 44, the Sharks' oldest player. "As it is, we know how to make ends meet. I think we can probably squeak by on $50,000 per year." Douglas, who lives in Greenwich Village, purchased the franchise in 2000 for $20,000, part of which she borrowed from her 401(k) plan when she was a vice president at Time Warner. She now works as a freelance creative director in the entertainment industry when not playing football and running the team. Motivated by sheer passion for the game, Douglas admits that players - most of whom also have full-time jobs such as teachers, construction workers and financial analysts - don't have it easy. They're each required to pay or raise a yearly fee mostly through ticket sales, sponsorships from families and friends, and fund-raisers. The 2003 amount was $1,000. Players practice three times a week and play Saturday games. "The players and most of the staff are unpaid - they're here for the same reason that I am," Douglas said. "They love the game of football." Virginia "Cha Chi" Leon, the Sharks' 38-year-old, 130-pound running back, is emblematic of the team's enthusiasm. "I have an insane passion for football. I want to be in every game," she said. Leon, in her third season with the team, found the Sharks after a friend at work heard her talking about football and told her the team was holding open tryouts. Leon, who lives on Staten Island and works at Staten Island University Hospital as a substance abuse counselor, said having nine brothers helped forge her love of football. "Growing up, I was a real tomboy. I rode motorcycles, played softball and loved football," she said. "Now, during the NFL season, you can't get me out of the house on a Sunday." Most Sharks have never played football before, in part because there are few opportunities for women to play either in high school or college. Team manager Crystal Turpin has noted that there's no feeder system for talent in women's football. Sports industry insiders say that the lack of an established, reliable pool of talent may prove a formidable obstacle to NFL involvement. Most women's football teams rely solely on open tryouts for recruitment. Rookie offensive-defensive linewoman Karen Mulligan, 25, of Ronkonkoma, attended the University of Delaware on a full scholarship for basketball. Mulligan said a radio advertisement for the Sharks prompted her to try out. "I love it. There's nothing like it," she said. "I love hitting people." And, despite the potential dangers of playing tackle football, the Sharks' physician said the squad "is extremely healthy." Dr. Susan Mackey, a Stony Brook-based specialist in chiropractic and sports medicine, said knee and ankle sprains and strains are among the most common types of injuries. Mackey, who provides most of her services pro bono to the team, also said that anterior cruciate ligament injuries are somewhat more likely to affect women athletes. She credits the Sharks head coach Nick Giannatasio with a "very good" conditioning routine that minimizes typically female injuries to the pelvic and breast areas. Dr. Joseph Guettler, an orthopedic surgeon with William Beaumont Hospital in Detroit, said female football players are at greater risk than their male counterparts because their muscles are not as strong and their joints are looser. "Women haven't been involved in collision sports from

early on," said Guettler, who also is team doctor for the Detroit Demolition women's football team. "Women haven't really learned to 'take a hit' as men have." Women's sports still are growing, however. Danette Leighton, a senior director of business operations for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, said "Each year, we have seen a huge growth in the participation of women's sports. Women's athletics are here to stay." It will take time to grow women's football - just as any new business venture needs time to grow. One Women's National Basketball Association statistic that Leighton supplied suggests just how far women's football has to go in terms of profile and fan popularity. The WNBA, now in its seventh year, averages 9,000 fans per game. After three years, New York Sharks games average 300 to 400 per game. For its May 31 game with the Albany Night-Mares, fewer than 75 fans came out in the rain to see the Sharks dominate the Night-Mares, 41-0. Yet one dedicated fan, Peter White, 23, drove from Pittsburgh to see college friend Monique "Green" LeBlanc, another rookie, play on that rainy Saturday. LeBlanc, 23, of Madison, N.J., the Sharks' 160-pound defensive tackle, played basketball for Bucknell University. "Mo is an amazing athlete, she's the picture of physical fitness," White said. "I had to see her play." Regardless of its dearth of fan support, Dawn Riley, president of the Women's Sports Foundation, has an upbeat outlook on women in football. "The Women's Professional Football League is a perfect example of how far women's sport has come over the past thirty years," she said. Leilani Farol, 26, a rookie from Astoria, said more women would play if they didn't have to fund-raise. "I like everything else about playing, the full-contact hitting, the female bonding. But it's not easy to sell all those tickets," she said. "I wish I was getting paid." That won't happen anytime soon. "Right now there's too many scattered teams and different leagues," Leon said. "I don't think the NFL is going to look at seriously until we either consolidate or just get our house in order. But I'll still be here when we do." The New York Sharks will host the Sacramento Sirens in the 2003 IWFL Championship Game at 7 p.m. Saturday at St. John's University in Jamaica. For more about The New York Sharks, visit www.nysharksfootball.com GRAPHIC: Photos by Nancy Opitz - 1) New York Sharks running back Teresa Schirrippa, front, only age 18 and a 2003 graduate of East Hampton High School, warms up before the team's 41-0 win over Albany on May 31. 2) Sharks offensive-defensive linewoman Anna Tate of Amityville leads the team through a group prayer in the locker room. 3) Andra Douglas, the Sharks' owner and a back-up quarterback, pauses during a practice this past spring 4) Sharks fullback Wanda Williams of Brooklyn, left, helps defensive end Rose Addison of Queens suit up. 5) Sharks quarterback Val Halesworth, left, is a teacher and coach at Oyster Bay High School 6) Coach Nick Giannatasio, above, keeps an eye on the field during the Eastern Conference title game June 28 against the Bay State Warriors. 7) Cover Photo by Nancy Opitz - New York Sharks fullback Courtney Eaton carries the football, steering clear of Albany Night-Mare players

earlier this season at August Martin High School in Jamaica. Undefeated, the Sharks play for the national championship on July 12. LOAD-DATE: July 6, 2003