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Golden State Storm set to kick off inaugural season in March
The Golden State Storm are the newest franchise in the Womens National Football Conference. The WNFC has been around since 2019 and there are 16 teams across the U.S. with players from 20 plus countries.
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Golden State Storm are the newest franchise in the Women's National Football Conference.
The WNFC has been around since 2019. There are 16 teams across the U.S. with players from 20 plus countries.
A diverse roster
The experience on the Storm's roster varies. You have a player like Lelani Cammal who's been playing professional women's tackle football since she was 16-years-old.
"As soon as I step on the football field there's just this fire in me. This is where I'm supposed to be, who I'm called to. This is a part of who Lelani is," said Cammal, the Golden State Storm's linebacker.
Then you have a player like Brandi Ransom who was a division 1 athlete in track at Rice University. Ransom has no experience playing football. Off the field, she's a research scientist at IBM and the news of her newfound love of football caught her job off guard.
"My manager did pull me into his office two days ago and was like, 'I heard you're a professional football player now what is that?" said Golden State Storm wide receiver Brandi Ransom.
Quick study
Storm head coach Dallas Hartwell has over a decade of coaching experience with football. He said so far the women on this team are learning at a faster pace than the men he has coached.
"It's really interesting how you tell them something once and they've learned it. I tell them all the time that it's been the biggest joy to get to coach them. They've been the most enjoyable practices because everybody wants to be a part of the team and they're extremely coachable and they put in the extra time too, so it's been really rewarding," said Golden State Storm head coach.
Playing for the fun of it
The women on this roster will not be compensated this season. However, the team's officials said they are committed to working with the team to earn partnership deals, merchandise incentives, and game ticket discounts that can all drive compensation directly to the athletes.
What's next:
The Golden State Storm will kick off the season at Laney College on March 28th, where they will host the San Diego Rebellion.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased on the website here.
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