Founded 2011 | ||
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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 former Alabama Renegade and Tennessee Valley Tigers players as well as a number of new players. Women's football has existed in the Huntsville area since the fall of 2000 when the Alabama Renegades first came into existence.
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History
In the fall of 2000, the Alabama Renegades and the Nashville Dream played a six game exhibition season to determine the viability of a women's full-contact football league. The exhibition games were a huge success and the league, the National Women's Football Association, expanded to 12 teams in its first full season of play in the spring of 2001. Ray Quinn was the man who first brought full-contact football to Huntsville and he owned the team for two years. Nancy Byrd, a Renegades player, kept the football dream alive in 2003 when she took over the team from Quinn. At the end of the 2008 season Nancy decided to retire from playing and looked to sell the team to a new owner. She was unable to find anyone willing to take on the responsibility of running the Alabama Renegades and decided she would no longer field a football team in the NWFA. The NWFA ceased operations that same year.
Carlos Mathews, the former Offensive Coordinator for the Alabama Renegades, realized the potential for women’s football in the Huntsville area and decided to explore ways to bring the game back for a 2009 season. Mathews researched several leagues but only found one with the stability needed to support women’s football in the Huntsville Area. The Tigers officially joined the Independent Women's Football League on August 12, 2008, as a Tier II team. On October 24, 2011 after learning that Carlos Matthews wasn't bringing the team back, former player Carmelesia Sullivan looked into forming a team. She formed the Huntsville Tigers from the former Tennessee Valley Tigers players.
Now in their third year of operations, the Huntsville Tigers are part of the Independent Women's Football League. The Tigers are excited to be part of the IWFL. The league has a long tradition of great football, sportsmanship and valuing the safety of all players in the sport of football.