Expansion KCK football team finishes with winning record
By Scott Lowder
June 19, 2003

Although the Kansas City Krunch failed to break even financially, the owner, Cheryl Fields, said it was a very successful year for her expansion team in the National Women’s Football Association.

“Many first-year teams are 0-8,” she said. “I would have been happy if we just won a few games. We ended at 5-3. We just barely missed making the playoffs.”

Ms. Fields said this is the first time she has ever been involved with a sports franchise.

“I purchased the team in November,” she said. “I was looking for something new— this is a high-risk category. I invested in the team and somehow we got it to work.”

The team played a ten-week regular season that ended last week after the Krunch lost to the Oklahoma City (Okla.) Lightning, 35-14. Had the team won, the Krunch would be representing the Southern Conference in the playoffs. The NWFA has 29 teams.

“It progressively got better,” she said about attendance at home games played at Harmon High School. “I was very impressed and very happy. And the fans are getting behind us.”

Despite two of the four home games being played in pouring rain, Ms. Fields said attendance definitely increased throughout the season. She said about 100 fans turned out for the first game, while 713 ticket stubs were collected for last weekend’s season-ending game.

Support for the team, she said, comes from those who support women playing organized tackle football. She said men and women either support it 100 percent or not at all.

She said the NWFA is the largest, full-contact women’s football league in the country. She also said it is the only semi-professional football league for women that has a full-time staff.

However, because the league is only in its third year of existence, salaries are limited for nearly everyone involved.

“There was no profit this year, which was fine,” she said. “However, next season, I would like to break even. Most of us only pay our players if the team makes a profit.”

She also said the willingness of players to perform without pay also intrigued her when she discovered the business opportunity.

“That says a whole heck of a lot— they come and practice, and sustain injuries,” she said about her players. “That’s dedication. They chose to put on the pads and practice.”

Ms. Fields also made a sacrifice for the benefit of the team. Before purchasing the team, she was a manager and special investigator for the Kansas Human Rights Commission while living in Topeka.

Now she is a part-time teacher at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, where she is now living. She said she will need to find another job during the off-season.

“It was a dream that became a reality,” she said about sacrificing her savings to own the team. “The friendships that the girls formed happened because of this team.”

Many of the team members will be able to keep in touch because they live in Greater Kansas City. However, only one player is from Kansas City, Kansas. Ann Franklin, 39, played for most of the season before hurting her knee during a practice.

The Kansas City Krunch, an all-women’s semi-professional football team, played its last game of the season last weekend at its home field— Harmon High School. The team lost to the Oklahoma City (Okla.) Lightning 35-14, ending its season with five wins and three loses. The only team member from Kansas City, Kansas, is Ann Franklin (left photo) who didn’t play last weekend because of a leg injury suffered in practice. (Staff photos by Carol Bland.)

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