OBJECTIVE
With the dedication to the cause of women athletes, we the members of the Wisconsin Wolves, will strive to enhance and promote, to best of our abilities, women’s tackle football. We will build a successful program that will allow women to be recognized for their talent and athletic abilities.
MISSION STATEMENT
Our mission is to establish a professional organization that radiates itself with pride and accomplishment. Teaching the basics of sport, the rules of fair play and the essence of sportsmanship.
We will create a foundation that will achieve success on and off the field with honor. With these attributes instilled in our hearts, this will further our cause of promoting women’s athletics.
Our success with this philosophy will not only produce a winning organization, but give a sense of accomplishment that each person can carry with them throughout their lifetime. Their efforts in establishing themselves as winners in sports as well as in life will be recognized not just by their peers, but by all in the State of Wisconsin and throughout the Nation.
HISTORY
The Wisconsin Wolves is a Womens Professional Tackle Football Team that is located in Madison, WI and gives women the opportunity to play football just like the men. The team started when owners Mark and Mary Dearth watched their daughter play in high school, then after high school a tryout landed her on the Kenosha Riveters.
After a couple of games, Mark started helping out and got hooked and from that day on has been involved in coaching Womens Football. Now he and his wife Mary own the Wolves and have made a name for themselves as one of the top premier teams.
The determination, competitiveness, perseverance and focus is what drove the Dearth’s to continue with the team. The Love of the Game and the Passion the ladies show is what drives the Wolves and their followers.
The Wolves started in the WPFL-the Womens Professional Football League in 2004 and now play in the IWFL-the Independent Womens Football League. Norm Killion came on as the head coach and advisor in 2006 and guided the Wolves to a 6-4 inaugural year (one game away from the championship) and in 2007 they recorded an 8-4 record and again one game away from the Championship.
The team sent 11 players to the Pro Bowl in the first year and also another feat was owner Mary Dearth was named General Manager of the Year. This year they had six named to the Pro Bowl.
The Wolves come from all walks of life, being teachers, auto mechanics, fire personnel, students, nurses and moms from 21 to 47. But the one thing they all have in common is they want to play football, and they play for the love of the game.
The games are played with the same rules as the NFL with a couple of exceptions. They play with a smaller ball, no chop blocks and they kick off from the 40 yard line. This is full contact tackle football and they also come away with the same injuries as the men.
They start in training camp with little or no knowledge of the game, and by the end of the season they are the most knowledgeable group around. This is not a sport for just anyone, they realize that not many have the athletic and mental ability to play the game and they are in a minority. This is not a sport just for men anymore.
Each player has had some competitive experience in sports either in high school or college, and they take this very seriously. You won’t see them dodging from players or running out of bounds to avoid contact, instead they run right at you and never back down. But after each play they help their opponent up and continue on with the game. This year the team will be playing teams from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Milwaukee with stiff competition anticipated from all their opponents.
