It’s America’s favorite sport, football, played by women in their undergarments—challenging perceptions of what it means to be a female athlete.
Formerly known as the Lingerie Football League, the Legends Football League (LFL) started in 2009 and rebranded in 2013. Currently, the league has ten U.S. teams, including the Toledo Crush, sorted into four divisions and two conferences.
Played on a 50-yard field between end zones, each game has four 8-minute quarters. Each team has approximately twenty players, with seven players per team on the field at a time. On offense the lineup features a quarterback, two running backs, one down-linewoman and three wide receivers, while the defense is made up of two down-linewomen, one linebacker, two cornerbacks and two safeties.
Originally established as the Cleveland Crush, Toledo’s LFL team moved in December because of venue availability with plans to draw new fans from Toledo and the Cleveland and Detroit areas. The Toledo team is in the Northeastern Division of the Eastern Conference, with each team playing two home games and two away games. The Crush will play the Baltimore Charm in the first Toledo home game, 8pm on Saturday, June 21, in the Huntington Center. The away games this year will be against Jacksonville Breeze and Omaha Heart.
Focus on athleticism
The first home game of 2014 had been scheduled for May 10 against the Atlanta Steam, but the game had to be rescheduled for Friday, July 11, when the turf wasn’t ready in time, team officials said.
“As soon as the first hit happens, you forget about what they’re wearing, what they look like, and you focus on the athleticism,” said Courtney Gifford, national marketing director for the LFL US.
Competitiveness drives the players to put on otherwise unorthodox uniforms and play this contact sport. Many of them are former high school or collegiate athletes who want to regain their sports identity. LFL players are unpaid. While many also have full-time careers and families, some are attending college. “They reach out to us because they know that it’s competitive, it’s raw, it’s real football and for the love of being competitive and the love of being an athlete this is their next outlet,” Gifford said.
Glamor and competition
Tamar Fennell, a third-year player for the Toledo Crush, played soccer, track and basketball in high school and attended Ohio University on a track scholarship. Before joining the LFL, she played for the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA). When she’s not making major hits or scoring touchdowns, she is a project manager at a marketing company in Cleveland.
“When I found the LFL, it was a perfect hybrid of competitiveness and also the glamor aspect,” said Fennell. “It’s competitive but it’s fun too because we’re all like-minded girls; we’re all interested in becoming better and learning more about football and winning.”
Despite the risqué nature of the uniforms, LFL games have a wide appeal. Gifford explained that they have fans of all ages, adding that she has seen women in their 80s with their husbands enjoying a match. “At the end of the day, they’re your hometown team. And just like any other sport, we just want your community support,” Gifford said. “Give us a chance to dispel those preconceived notions. Come out to the game and let us prove you wrong.”
“We’re so excited to be in Toledo,” Fennell said. “We’re so anxious to get people to come out and establish the sport. We know that once people show up, they’re going to love it.”
For tickets and to learn more about Toledo Crush, check out lflus.com/toledocrush