Dallas-Fort Worth has no shortage of football this spring

by Todd E. Jones of College Football Top Ten

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No Cowboys and no Desperados doesn't mean no football. This is Texas, afterall.

The spring has always meant that it was time for the Arena Football League. Dallas has played host to the Dallas Desperados for several years and the Desperados have been very successful. But, as the AFL has suspends play for 2009, another group of football teams take to the field in this spring. Semi-pro teams from the Texas United Football League and the National Minor League Football start their regular seasons this month. Further, two local women’s football teams lace up their cleats in April. There will be no shortage of options for the football-crazed fan over the next several months.

National Minor League Football

On Saturday, February 21, National Minor League Football kicks off its inaugural season. The NMLF is a twelve-team league currently comprised of teams from Texas, but they are looking to expand nationally. Initially, the league expected to have teams in several states, but they were unable to secure the paperwork and fees required by the league to participate this spring.

Five teams in the NMLF are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In Fort Worth, there are the Lonestar Pitbulls owned by Carol Trahan. Plano is the home of the Venom and Grand Prairie is home to the Titans. Finally, the Dallas area is home the DFW Xpress coached by minor league football veteran Truman Vernon and the North Texas Seminoles who are coached by another minor league football veteran, Dewayne Gordan. The NMLF is ran by Commissioner J.C. Kimmey with the help of Senior Consultants Lincoln Coleman and Rickey Dixon, former NFL and AFL players. To learn more about the NMLF, visit their website at www.nmlf.org.

Texas United Football League

The Texas United Football League will begin play on February 28. While all of the TUFL teams from the DFW area are getting ready for their first game, the Fort Worth Avengers held a banquet to officially kick start the season. The Avengers, winners of last year's West Division in the North Conference, will play in the Central Division this year along with league champs, the Hunt County Longhorns.

The Avengers began some 15 years ago when veteran player and coach Randy Rowley and two others got together and formed the team. At the time, Rowley, who was a Canadian Football League player, came to Fort Worth from Canada every week to play for the Avengers. About nine years ago, Rowley suspended play of the Avengers due to personal issues. Just a year later, Darrell Brummett, Dawayne “Train” Vanderwork and Gary Fulenwider approached Rowley about purchasing the Avengers name to form a new team. Rowley decided to give the name to the men and joined the team as coach. The banquet on February 7 was a recounting of the club's legacy, hence the theme for the banquet and the year is, “Living the Legacy.” Visit www.dfwavengers.com for more information.

Another team in the TUFL is made up of college students at the University of Texas at Arlington. UTA does not have an official football team, so these students are members of a campus organization playing club football against the teams from the TUFL. Robert Green, who served as the team's offensive coordinator last year, takes over as the head coach this year. The UTA Mavericks have been busy trying to rebuild bridges that were burned in the past few years through complacency. Of late, the Mavericks have made themselves visible in the community by participating in events such as the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure.

Coach Green is looking to develop good relationships with area high school coaches and hopes that the UTA Mavericks can become a development organization for athletes wanting to play college football. To find out more about the UTA Mavericks, check out their website at www.maverickfootballclub.com or visit their online store at www.cafepress.com/mavsfootball.

Women’s Football

The Dallas Diamonds will return to the field in April after winning their fourth consecutive title in an overtime thriller against the Chicago Force last summer. The Diamonds will open their Independent Women’s Football League season April 11 against the Houston Energy.

This year, the Diamonds announced on their website that Dallas iMedia will televise their games. The Diamonds have received an increasing amount of publicity each year as the team continues to be the most successful franchise in the North Texas area. Among other accolades, running back Jessica Springer was named to Pegasus News' 2008 top performing athletes. You can learn more about the Dallas Diamonds by visiting their website, www.dallasdiamondsfootball.com.

The newest member of women’s football in North Texas is the Lone Star Mustangs. The Mustangs will open their inaugural season April 25 hosting the East Texas Saberkats at Pennington Field. The Mustangs were founded by businesswoman LynMarie Liberty-Ellington. Liberty-Ellington, who is finishing her Doctorate in Business Administration at the University of Phoenix, has a passion for helping women succeed in business. She hosts a talk radio show called Women’s Small Business Talk Radio and the she and the Mustangs will host a Women’s Business Expo at the Richardson Civic Center in June.

The Mustangs currently have 54 players and they continue to receive phone calls from women across DFW interested in playing. The Mustangs have benefited from the now defunct North Texas Fury as they were able to sign several of the Fury players. Signing those women was crucial in helping the Mustangs have a foundation of experience. They are hoping a scrimmage against the Austin Outlaws in Waco will help their rookies gain valuable playing experience.

Liberty-Ellington has put a majority of her time into the Mustangs franchise, adopting a year-round marketing plan. Her labor has paid off as the Mustangs already have 200 season-ticket holders, and she expects to have a total 500 by the end of February. Projects such as the Women’s Expo and the talk radio show are just a part of the whole process, which Liberty-Ellington has employed. At the center of it all is the Mustang football team. Liberty-Ellington hopes to make a splash in week three as the Mustangs host the defending league champs Houston Cyclones. “We want to beat Houston on May 2,” Liberty-Ellington said, “you can put that on your site.” To learn more about the Mustangs, visit their website at www.lonestarmustangs.com.

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