The Cleveland Fusion is a women's professional
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 wit ...
team based in
Cleveland, Ohio, United States. They play in the
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 ...
. The Fusion played in the
National Women's Football Association
The National Women's Football Association (NWFA) was a full-contact American football league for women headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the Alabama Renegades ...
from their inception in 2002 until 2008. Home games are played at Mustang Stadium at
Maple Heights High School.
History
The Cleveland Fusion were founded in 2002.
They joined the
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 ...
in 2009 after seven seasons in the
National Women's Football Association
The National Women's Football Association (NWFA) was a full-contact American football league for women headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the Alabama Renegades ...
.
The team used to play at
Bedford High School's Bearcat Stadium, as well as at
Byers Field
Byers Field is a 12,750-capacity multi-purpose stadium in Parma, Ohio, located on Day Drive next to The Shoppes at Parma. The stadium can host football, track and field, and soccer events. The three high schools and three middle schools of th ...
in
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...
, Ohio. A number of players have been drawn from Cleveland-area colleges, including
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Res ...
.
T.J. Monachino took over the team before the 2017 season.
Multiple organizations have praised the Fusion for promoting
gay pride
LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to ...
and breaking down
gender role
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cen ...
s.
Season-by-season results
, -
, colspan="6" align="center" , Cleveland Fusion (NWFA)
, -
, 2002 , , 6 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd Great Lakes , , Lost League Quarterfinal (
)
, -
, 2003 , , 7 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd Northern Great Lakes , , Won Northern Conference Quarterfinal (
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
)
Lost Northern Conference Semifinal (
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
)
, -
, 2004 , , 3 , , 5 , , 0 , , 4th Northern Great Lakes , , --
, -
, 2005 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 10th Northern , , --
, -
, 2006 , , 8 , , 2 , , 0 , , 1st Northern North Central , , Won League Wild Card (
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
)
Lost League Quarterfinal (
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...
)
, -
, 2007 , , 8 , , 3 , , 0 , , 3rd Northern Central , , Won Northern Conference Quarterfinal (
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
)
Won Northern Conference Semifinal (
)
Lost Northern Conference Championship (
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
)
, -
, 2008 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd Northern Central , , --
, -
, colspan="6" align="center" , Cleveland Fusion (WFA)
, -
, 2009 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd National Mid-Atlantic , , --
, -
, 2010 , , 6 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd National North Central , , Lost National Conference Quarterfinal (
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
)
, -
, 2011 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd National Mid-Atlantic , , --
, -
, 2012 , , 2 , , 6 , , 0 , , 2nd National Mideast , , --
, -
, 2013 , , 9 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st National North Central , , Won National Conference Wild Card (
West Michigan
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower ...
)
Lost National Conference Quarterfinal (
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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)
, -
, 2014 , , 7 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd National Northeast , , Won National Conference Wild Card (
Indy
Indy may refer to:
Computing and technology
*Indy (software), used for Internet access to music
*Internet Direct, or "Indy", a software library
* SGI Indy, a computer workstation
Periodicals
*''The Indy'', shorthand for newspapers that include ...
)
Lost National Conference Quarterfinal (
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
)
, -
, 2015 , , 6 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd National Mid-Atlantic , , Lost National Conference Quarterfinal (
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 ...
)
, -
, 2016 , , 4 , , 5 , , 0 , , 6th National , , Lost National Conference Quarterfinal (
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
)
, -
!Totals , , 85 , , 50 , , 0
, colspan="2", (including playoffs)
2015 roster
2009
Season Schedules
2010
Season Schedules
2011
Standings
Season Schedules
2012
Standings
Season schedule
2013
Standings
Season schedule
2014
Standings
Season schedule
2015
Standings
Season schedule
Logos
Image:LogoFusion.png, Cleveland Fusion (2002-2007)
Image:ClevelandFusion.PNG, Cleveland Fusion (2008–present)
References
Cleveland Fusion
National Women's Football Association teams
American football teams in Cleveland
Women's Football Alliance teams
American football teams established in 2002
2002 establishments in Ohio
Women's sports in Ohio
{{Ohio-sport-team-stub