Football returns to the original Cardinal Stadium at the Kentucky Exposition Center on Saturday, albeit in a different form. The Derby City Dynamite is women’s tackle football and this year they’re looking to improve on their previous 4-4 season. They’ll face the Indy Crash.
You didn’t read the above paragraph wrong. It’s tackle football. You also won’t see the lingerie that some people associate with women’s football. This is the real collision sport of football.
The Dynamite are part of the Women’s Football Alliance, the largest women’s football league in the world. 63 teams from the United States and Mexico send their squads into battle. The Alliance has 13 division overall and the Dynamite compete in Division 3 along with the Cincinnati Sizzle, Cleveland Fusion and the Toledo Reign.
This team isn’t the regions first foray into women’s football. The Kentucky Karma, based in Crestwood, played for six years. They were first members of the National Women’s Football Association from 2005 to 2008, capturing the 2008 NWFA South East division title. That was also the last year for the NWFA.
In 2009 the Karma joined the WFA but fortunes weren’t so favorable. During their last season in 2011, the team could only manage a 1-7 season.
In 2012, the Dynamite came into the Alliance as an expansion team and played a .500 schedule during its first season. Some of that may have come from attrition. The squad started with 40 players but dwindled to 30 as the season wore on. The ideal roster size is 55.
That doesn’t mean the team was without playmakers. Last year Angela Embry was named a First Team All-American with the league. Roneece Coleman, Gloria Wilson and Casey Shepard were all Second Team All-Americans. They all return this year however Shepard is on the injured reserve list.
Tickets to the game are affordable with adult prices at $10. Military, students (with ID) and seniors are $7. Children 5 to 15 get to see the game for $5 and kids under 5 get in free. Four game season ticket packages will also be available at the gate.
This years home schedule goes as follows:
- April 6 - Dynamite v Indy Crash
- April 27 - Dynamite v Cleveland Fusion
- May 18 - Dynamite v Cincinnati Sizzle
- June 1 - Dynamite v Toledo Reign
Illustration: Derby City Dynamite
