The New York Sharks were 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 wi ...

team that was based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Their final season in 2018 was played as a member team of the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). They were the longest running and most winning team in women's football history with the honor of having a signed football in the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

Staff

Management Staff * Owner - Andra Douglas * CFO, Social Media Mgr, former VP of Operations - Dana Sparling * General Manager - Tia Hopkins * VP - Crystal Turpin The Final 2018 season Coaching staff: *Head Coach - Fabian Alesandro *Defensive Coordinator - Kyle Copeland *Receivers Coach - Alan Walls *O-Line Coach - Yatia Hopkins *Defensive Backs Coach - Toni Salvatore *Quality Control - Pat Brown *Quarterbacks Coach - Fabian Baez

History

First full-contact game

The New Yorks Sharks originally started as a women's flag football team called the Long Island Sharks ran by Jacqueline Colon. They played in international tournaments and were national champions. In 1999, the

Women's Professional Football League The Women's Professional American Football League (WPFL) was a women's professional American football league in the United States. With teams across the United States, the WPFL had its first game in 1999 with just two original teams: the Lake M ...

(WPFL) was formed. It consisted of two teams, the

Minnesota Vixens The Minnesota Vixen is a professional women's football team based in the Twin Cities. The team has been known as the Minnesota Vixens and Minneapolis Vixens prior to being known as the Vixen (note lack of "s"). Established in 1999, the Vixen are ...

and the Lake Michigan Minx. They traveled the country playing each other on what was called the "No Limits" Tour. They had heard about the success of the Long Island Sharks and challenged them to a full contact, tackle football game. Jacqueline Colon accepted the challenge and with two months to prepare, converted her flag football team to a tackle football team. On Saturday, December 11, 1999, the Minnesota Vixens came to New York to take on the Sharks. The Vixens were favored having played 4 games already, having a 2–2 record. The Sharks were coached by former New York Jet

Bobby Jackson Bobby Jackson (born March 13, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He serves as the head coach of the Stockton Kings in the NBA G League, the development affiliate of the Sacramento Kings of the National Bask ...

. Before 300 fans on a windy day at

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territory ...

, Long Island Sharks surprised Minnesota, defeating them 12–6. The Sharks recorded two

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

passes by

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

Val Halesworth. One score was on a long pass to Natalie Jufer that led to a 71-yard touchdown. The other score was an 18-yard pass to Valerie Monaco.

Independent Women's Football League

The Sharks played their home games at the Aviator Sports Complex at Floyd Bennett Field in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. They played an 8-game regular season schedule.

Future

From 2014 to 2015, the Sharks played in 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 th ...

. From 2016–2018, the Sharks were a member team in the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). In 2018 the team was sold and became the New York Wolves.

Season-By-Season

(not including Long Island Sharks flag football seasons) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , New York Sharks (No Limits Barnstorming) , - , 1999 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , -- , , Won Exhibition Game (

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , New York Sharks (WPFL) , - , 2000 , , 4 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2nd NC East , , Lost National Conference Qualifier (

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , New York Sharks (Independent) , - , 2001 , , 6 , , 1 , , 0 , , -- , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , New York Sharks (IWFL) , - , 2002 , , 7 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st East , , Won IWFL Championship (

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

) , - , 2003 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st EC Mid Atlantic , , Won Eastern Conference Championship ( Bay State)
Lost IWFL Championship (

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

) , - , 2004 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st EC Mid Atlantic , , Won Eastern Conference Wildcard (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

)
Won Eastern Conference Championship (

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

)
Lost IWFL Championship (

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

) , - , 2005 , , 10 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st EC Mid Atlantic , , Won Eastern Conference Wildcard ( Southern Maine)
Lost Eastern Conference Championship (

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

) , - , 2006 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st EC Mid Atlantic , , Won Eastern Conference Wildcard (

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

)
Lost Eastern Conference Championship (

) , - , 2007 , , 6 , , 2 , , 0 , , 1st EC North Atlantic , , Won Eastern Conference Wildcard (

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

)
Lost Eastern Conference Championship (

) , - , 2008 , , 6 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2nd Tier I EC North Atlantic , , -- , - , 2009 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd Tier I EC North Atlantic , , -- , - , 2010 , , 7 , , 1 , , 0 , , 2nd Tier I EC Northeast , , Lost Northeast Division Championship (

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , New York Sharks (WFA) , - , 2011 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd NC North , , -- , - , 2012 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2nd NC Division 2 , , Won National Conference Wildcard ( Keystone)
Lost National Conference Quarterfinal (

) , - !Totals , , 92 , , 27 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs) * = current standing

2012 roster

2009

Season schedule

2010

Season schedule

2011

Standings

Season schedule

2012

Standings

Season schedule

** = Won by forfeit

External links

* {{New York Sports Women's Football Alliance teams American football teams in New York City American football teams established in 1999 1999 establishments in New York City Women in New York City Women's sports in New York (state)