Manchester Freedom

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The Manchester Freedom is a women's tackle football team playing out of Manchester, New Hampshire. They are a member of the Independent Women's Football League (IWFL), a league with 42 teams across the United States and Canada. The Manchester Freedom joined the IWFL in 2001.

The Freedom play in the Northern Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.

They were the 2007 Northeast Division Champions.

For the 2008 season, the Freedom will be calling the Manchester West Memorial Field in Manchester, New Hampshire home. They will be playing an 8 game regular season schedule.


[edit] History

As one of the women who founded the Freedom in 2001, and helped to create the IWFL, Mary Sargent set out on a mission to start this team from the ground up. She started by visiting ball fields across the state of New Hampshire recruiting women to play for the Freedom. In order to stay in working order, she began to solicit support from local businesses who had no idea women played football. She began working with the press to get the word out, arranging practice locations for the team, and outfitting women with football equipment. When it came to game day, Mary found a small group of volunteers and cover everything from the chains on the field, to the tickets at the door, the game time announcements, the food for the fans and a half time contest with the kids.

In this first year of existence, Mary struggled to find a home for the Freedom. She began visiting every New Hampshire town trying to find a football field that could be used in the spring. In the end, Mary and Mike Lopez, Alderman at Large in Manchester, fought hard to be the first non-school program to strike a deal that would allow them to use the brand new Manchester West Memorial Field, which continues to this day to be the home field of the Freedom. The deal was finalized two weeks before the first game of the season!

Over the years, there have many individuals who have been supportive of the team, constantly checking on our status. Mary attended our most recent playoff game in 2007 and said, "It was the women of the Freedom who made the team successful, I just helped keep things going while they worked on their game."

The unselfish work of many individuals has kept this team in constant growth. As we continue to grow, we cannot forget the efforts made by the past, present, and future of the Manchester Freedom..."Where Passion Becomes Excellence"...


[edit] Ownership

In 2003, Ray Simoneau heard about a women's football team in Manchester from his daughter Amy Michelizza. She told him that she was going to try out for the team. Like other initial thoughts, he wasn't aware at the time that women playing tackle football was possible or even competitive. It was at this point he began researching the team and the league. He looked around many websites learning about their struggles and triumphs as women. In these brief moments he knew he had to see more, had to be apart of this, and didn't know how to get anything started, but he knew going to a game was his first step.

Opening day in 2003 and with his father, they ventured to West High School field, home of the Manchester Freedom. In the stands with approximately 400-500 attendees, it proved to be a perfect afternoon for a football game. The kick off, the return, the offense, the defense...this was passion, this was history, this was where he found my heart eager to get more involved...an event many thought not possible, an event he wished to support.

The Manchester Freedom has not grown to the point where they can pay their athletes, therefore sponsors and promotions are important as this franchise grows into the thought of, "It's not just a man's game anymore."


[edit] Roster

Player 

   Number  

   Hgt / Wgt   

   Hometown    

    Position  

 Bailey, Mel

        

 Bellemore, Stacey

99

 5'7" / 250

Nashua, NH

OL

 Bradbury, Melissa

        

Bucher, Valerie 

37

5'0" / 125

Lisbon Falls, ME

DB

 Burge, Joy

23 

 5'2" / 129

 Wilton, NH

DB/RB

 Delizia, Brook

77

 5'9" / 180

 Staten Island, NY

 DL/OL

 Dumont, Catherine

26

5'0" / 125

 Tyngsboro, MA

DL

 Florence, Jaime

        

 * Halloran, Christine

55

5'3" / 160

Londonderry, NH

LB/RB

 Hood-Tucker, Darin

62

5'6" / 190

Ringe, NH

DL

 Immonen, Sarah

 45

 5'5" / 170

Raymond, NH

 LB

 *  Izzi, Lauri

21

 5'5" / 200

 Salem, NH

 QB

 Kravitz, Deb

75

5'5" / 168

Manchester, NH

DL

 LaRoche, Holly

28

5' 5" / 132

Manchester, NH

 DE/DB

 Lasman, Jen

        

 McDonald, Angela

        

 Morrow, Dee

96

   5'11" / 290

 Peabody, MA

 OL

 Naylor, Jamie

80

 5' 5" / 130

 Salem, NH

 WR

 Parkinson, Jennifer

70

 5' 9" / 170

Dubuque, IA

OL

  * Pashkevitch, Katia

25

 5'10" / 198

 Moscow, Russia

 LB/RB

 Petchar, Laurie

        

 Pirog, Jennifer

32

 5'6" / 143

 Merrimack, NH

 DB

 Porter, Kip

        

 Rooney, Andrea

67

5'9" / 180

Falmouth, ME

OL

 Salmons, Amy

        

 Sanders, Vicki

        

 Scanlan, Jenn

 79

 5'3" / 250

Nashua, NH

 DL

 Sharp, Kristina

48

5'0" / 140

Omaha, NE

DB