GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — You know the sounds.
You’ve felt the excitement.
It’s football season— but not as you may know it.
These are the Grand Rapids Tidal Waves, a team pushing the sport forward— for women.
The Conversation about football starts for boys so early, often they don’t remember the first time they held the ball. And those who pursue it see doors open at top schools— and teams— around the country.
For women, that conversation starts much later. If it happens at all.
“I kind of equate it to teaching women conversational Spanish in about three months.” Stacey Davis, head coach for the Tidal Waves tells us.
The Waves are a women’s tackle football team who— as the name implies— have been an undeniable force for Division 3 of the Women’s Football Alliance.
The WFA is a professional league with sponsors to help promote their top-tier teams.
But for the Tidal Waves—
“That's where the semi comes in.. ‘semi-professional’,” says Peighton Jones, returning linebacker for the Waves.
Competing at this level costs each player $450 per season.
Team members can knock down that price a bit through volunteer work, finding personal sponsors, and selling raffle tickets; but what’s left (like equipment and travel accommodations) is on the player.
Coach Davis tells us, though the team is used to washing over the immovable objects ahead of them; it’s time to take the ball and run.
The first goal? Partnership with the communities they live and work in.
“It’d be a whole lot easier if we could get a big couple of sponsors,” says Davis. “We know that we’d represent them well because that’s what we do already.”
The Waves are on an upward trajectory, growing from a team of mostly rookies who’d never touched a ball in 2018 to seasoned veterans hungry for a championship.
The league is at a turning point, too. The WFA National Championship debuted on ESPN2 in July, opening up real opportunity for exposure of the sport.
Davis says help from community businesses would make it easier for these women to play, and exposure would eventually make the conversation about football just as natural for girls as it is for boys.
“They've seen their brothers or uncle's or their dads do this stuff, but they've never found their place,” Davis says. “And I feel like this is a huge opportunity to show girls that, hey, you can do this, too.”
For the women of the Waves, it’s not just about what comes next, but who—
“It feels like it’s the beginning of something great for women and maybe eventually my grandchildren or my children won’t have to pay.”
The Waves are already a place of acceptance for athletes of all skill levels and walks to life.
Because—as Tidal Waves co-founder and Board President, Pam Blazos tells us-- the common denominator in football is drive and love for the game.
“I've always wanted to play competitive sports. And I've always wanted to play contact sports, but there's historically not been the option for it,” says Brazos.
Right now the team is looking for women eager to learn, and hungry for competition.
“We start them off at ground zero,” says Blazos. “And by the time that we hit April, they're ready to play a competitive, full contact game.”
And open to growing their family.
Because the women of the Grand Rapids Tidal Waves have their sites set on a championship and are prepared to be that unstoppable force for their team, and women’s sports.
You can test your interest in the sport before the tryouts with the next mini-camp on August 27th, and the team is holding a dedicated rookie camp to bolster your skills once the team’s been chosen.
For more on how to get involved in playing—or supporting—the Grand Rapids Tidal Waves—click here.
