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), 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 wi ...

league for women headquartered in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

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. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the

Alabama Renegades The Huntsville Tigers is a women's American football team located in Huntsville, Alabama. 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 fo ...

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 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 American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

. 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

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 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 th ...

* WFA =

Women's Football Alliance The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a professional full-contact Women's American football tackle minor league that began play 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

Championship games

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

Philadelphia Liberty Belles 40, Pensacola Power 7 *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Detroit Danger The Detroit Demolition was a women's American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. During their most recent season, home games were played at Franklin High School in Livonia. They joined the National Women's Football Associatio ...

48,

Massachusetts Mutiny Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

30 *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

Detroit Demolition The Detroit Demolition was a women's American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. During their most recent season, home games were played at Franklin High School in Livonia. They joined the National Women's Football Associatio ...

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 ...

52,

Oklahoma City Lightning The Oklahoma City Lightning is a full-contact women's American football team in the Women's Spring Football League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Home games are played at Taft Stadium. Formerly a member of the Independent Women's Football Leag ...

0 *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

74, Pensacola Power 0 *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

D.C. Divas The D.C. Divas are a football team in the Women's Football Alliance. Based in the Washington Metropolitan Area, the Divas play their home games at The St. James Sports Complex in Springfield VA. Formerly, the Divas played at Eastern High School ...

28,

7 *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

Pittsburgh Passion The Pittsburgh Passion is a women's American football team based in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The franchise was formed in March 2002 and is currently owned by Teresa Conn, Anthony Misitano, and the estate of Franco Harris. The team is a ...

32,

Columbus Comets The Columbus Comets are a women's professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. They play in the Women's Football Alliance. The Comets played in the National Women's Football Association from their inception in 2003 until 2008 ( ...

0 *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

H-Town Texas Cyclones The H-Town Texas Cyclones were a team of the Independent Women's Football League. Based in Houston, the Cyclones played their home games at Reggie Grob Stadium on the campus of the Spring Branch Independent School District. The Cyclones were the ...

39,

West Michigan Mayhem The West Michigan Mayhem is a women's professional American football team based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They play in the Women's Football Alliance. The Mayhem played in the National Women's Football Association from their inception in 2002 until ...

References

External links

American Football Association
{{Women's gridiron football leagues 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

League rules

List of teams

Championship games

See also

References

External links