{"id":215,"date":"2015-06-27T00:40:54","date_gmt":"2015-06-27T04:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/?p=215"},"modified":"2015-06-27T09:29:10","modified_gmt":"2015-06-27T13:29:10","slug":"a-league-of-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/a-league-of-their-own\/","title":{"rendered":"A League of Their Own"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JDSHp9wtF9E?rel=0\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<strong>By Tyler Maheu<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Playing ball like a girl is no longer an insult, just watch the Boston Renegades.<\/p>\n<p>Currently competing in the Women\u2019s Football Alliance, the Renegades, Boston\u2019s all-women tackle football team, are part of a league that has broken the stereotype that football is just for men.<\/p>\n<p>But now, the Renegades, who lost their owner weeks before the season started, have to figure out a way to keep playing the game they love.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2000, the Boston area has seen several women semi-pro football teams, starting with the New England Storm,<\/p>\n<p>The Renegades, who started playing in 2008, were known as the Boston Militia, the winningest team in the national WFA. Owned by Ernie Boch Jr., the team grabbed three titles in five years, and is holders of a 67-6 record, including playoff games, giving Boston another sports dynasty.<\/p>\n<p>But in January, just before the team was to start practice for the season, Boch gave up ownership and it appeared the team was going to disappear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTiming wasn\u2019t great,\u201d said Mia Brickhouse, one of the team\u2019s linebackers and its chief operating officer.\u201cThey wanted more competition, they wanted ESPN and they never got that from the league. In their mind they just wanted to focus on something else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To save their dream, some of players including Brickhouse, created the Boston Women\u2019s Football LLC, the team\u2019s ownership group.. This allowed them to organize the team and find sponsorship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year\u2019s been a lot of beg, borrowing, and stealing,\u201d said \u00a0Molly Goodwin, chief financial officer and linebacker coach. \u201cHopefully this offseason we can negotiate deals with some vendors, sponsors, and physical therapists to help our training staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because of legal issues, the team needed a new identity. After much deliberation, the players agreed to change from the Militia to the Renegades.<\/p>\n<p>These days money for the team is in short supply, Goodwin said. \u00a0Renegade players pay a fee to play and bring their own shoulder pads. The fee covers other football essentials such as helmets, and game and practice uniforms. The team covers the day-to-day fees such as field rentals, league dues, and regular season travel April through June.<\/p>\n<p>However, with the team now in the postseason, funds are running out. \u201cIf we make it to Los Angeles [where the championship will be played], we would probably have a handful of players that couldn\u2019t afford it,\u201d said Goodwin. \u201cThese are still young kids just figuring out their way, they don\u2019t have the money to be traveling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI loved football as a child, but never even thought it was an option,\u201d said Brickhouse. For many of the women, football was not a possibility as a child, they said &#8212; whether it was teams not accepting them, or their mothers saying no, football was strictly for the boys.<\/p>\n<p>This team means a lot to these women, and they want to see it expand into something bigger. \u201cI would like to see a more competitive level, I\u2019d like to see more people involved in the sport,\u201d said Torrance Brown, one of the team\u2019s defensive lineman.<\/p>\n<p>However, right now, Brown said, the goal is clear: \u201cKeep winning some rings.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>(Click photo to view slideshow)<\/h3>\n<div id=\"cp_widget_ab541236-0125-4b82-b315-041740bc90a1\">&#8230;<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\nvar cpo = []; cpo[\"_object\"] =\"cp_widget_ab541236-0125-4b82-b315-041740bc90a1\"; cpo[\"_fid\"] = \"AsCAGrcBQf_f\";\nvar _cpmp = _cpmp || []; _cpmp.push(cpo);\n(function() { var cp = document.createElement(\"script\"); cp.type = \"text\/javascript\";\ncp.async = true; cp.src = \"\/\/www.cincopa.com\/media-platform\/runtime\/libasync.js\";\nvar c = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0];\nc.parentNode.insertBefore(cp, c); })();\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><noscript>Powered by Cincopa <a href='http:\/\/www.cincopa.com\/video-hosting'>Video Hosting for Business<\/a> solution.<span>New Gallery 2015\/6\/25<\/span><span>Mia Brickhouse<\/span><span>June 23, 2015<\/span><span>flash<\/span><span> 16<\/span><span>cameramake<\/span><span> NIKON CORPORATION<\/span><span>height<\/span><span> 4928<\/span><span>camerasoftware<\/span><span> Ver.1.01 <\/span><span>originaldate<\/span><span> 6\/23\/2015 11:35:16 PM<\/span><span>width<\/span><span> 3264<\/span><span>cameramodel<\/span><span> NIKON D5100<\/span><span>Punting Practice<\/span><span>June 23, 2015<\/span><span>flash<\/span><span> 16<\/span><span>cameramake<\/span><span> NIKON CORPORATION<\/span><span>height<\/span><span> 3264<\/span><span>camerasoftware<\/span><span> Ver.1.01 <\/span><span>originaldate<\/span><span> 6\/24\/2015 12:15:56 AM<\/span><span>width<\/span><span> 4928<\/span><span>cameramodel<\/span><span> NIKON D5100<\/span><span>Warming up for practice<\/span><span>June 23, 2015<\/span><span>flash<\/span><span> 16<\/span><span>cameramake<\/span><span> NIKON CORPORATION<\/span><span>height<\/span><span> 3264<\/span><span>camerasoftware<\/span><span> Ver.1.01 <\/span><span>originaldate<\/span><span> 6\/24\/2015 12:21:49 AM<\/span><span>width<\/span><span> 4928<\/span><span>cameramodel<\/span><span> NIKON D5100<\/span><span>Kickoff Practice<\/span><span>June 23, 2015<\/span><span>flash<\/span><span> 16<\/span><span>cameramake<\/span><span> NIKON CORPORATION<\/span><span>height<\/span><span> 3264<\/span><span>camerasoftware<\/span><span> Ver.1.01 <\/span><span>originaldate<\/span><span> 6\/24\/2015 12:34:29 AM<\/span><span>width<\/span><span> 4928<\/span><span>cameramodel<\/span><span> NIKON D5100<\/span><span>Renegade player during a water break<\/span><span>June 23, 2015<\/span><span>flash<\/span><span> 16<\/span><span>cameramake<\/span><span> NIKON CORPORATION<\/span><span>height<\/span><span> 3264<\/span><span>camerasoftware<\/span><span> Ver.1.01 <\/span><span>originaldate<\/span><span> 6\/24\/2015 12:25:31 AM<\/span><span>width<\/span><span> 4928<\/span><span>cameramodel<\/span><span> NIKON D5100<\/span><span>Renegades player running drills<\/span><span>June 23, 2015<\/span><span>flash<\/span><span> 16<\/span><span>cameramake<\/span><span> NIKON CORPORATION<\/span><span>height<\/span><span> 3264<\/span><span>camerasoftware<\/span><span> Ver.1.01 <\/span><span>originaldate<\/span><span> 6\/24\/2015 12:45:40 AM<\/span><span>width<\/span><span> 4928<\/span><span>cameramodel<\/span><span> NIKON D5100<\/span><span>Beautiful sunset above Dilboy Stadium<\/span><span>June 23, 2015<\/span><span>flash<\/span><span> 16<\/span><span>cameramake<\/span><span> NIKON CORPORATION<\/span><span>height<\/span><span> 3264<\/span><span>camerasoftware<\/span><span> Ver.1.01 <\/span><span>originaldate<\/span><span> 6\/24\/2015 12:46:05 AM<\/span><span>width<\/span><span> 4928<\/span><span>cameramodel<\/span><span> NIKON D5100<\/span><span>One of the Renegade&#8217;s smallest, and furriest fans<\/span><span>June 23, 2015<\/span><span>flash<\/span><span> 16<\/span><span>cameramake<\/span><span> NIKON CORPORATION<\/span><span>height<\/span><span> 3264<\/span><span>camerasoftware<\/span><span> Ver.1.01 <\/span><span>originaldate<\/span><span> 6\/23\/2015 11:29:25 PM<\/span><span>width<\/span><span> 4928<\/span><span>cameramodel<\/span><span> NIKON D5100<\/span><\/noscript><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Tyler Maheu Playing ball like a girl is no longer an insult, just watch the Boston Renegades. Currently competing in the Women\u2019s Football Alliance, the Renegades, Boston\u2019s all-women tackle football team, are part of a league that has broken the stereotype that football is just for men. But now, the Renegades, who lost their owner weeks before the season [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6os9Y-3t","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/footballers.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions\/289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}