The word of the day for the Chicago Force, from now through early August, is: repeat.
Nothing else will please the defending Women's Football Alliance ( WFA ) national championships, who open the 2014 season on April 5, on the road against the Detroit Dark Angels.
The Force home opener is a week later—April 12, when the Indy Crash come to town.
The Force plays an eight-game regular-season ( four home, four away ), wrapping up with a home game June 7 against the Columbus Comets. The playoffs kick off in mid-June and wrap up Aug. 2, with the league's national championship game, which will be played at Lane Tech High School on Chicago's north side.
The Force plays its regular-season games at Evanston Township High School, and home foes also include the West Michigan Mayhem ( April 26 ) and a game on May 31.
"There's no question that we are capable of repeating this year as National Champions," said Force owner Linda Bache. "We definitely have the talent; it's a matter of whether the team can retain its focus and commitment after winning it all last season.
"In order to repeat, we'll need to avoid injuries, particularly to key personnel. But most important, the players have to realize that 2013 is over. This year's team hasn't won anything, yet. And we've got a huge target on our backs; we will get every opponent's best effort. I'm concerned about a letdown; I see some complacency with some of our veterans. If we phone it in, we will not repeat. We have to bring the same desire, commitment and intensity that we had last year."
The Force has its most challenging regular-season schedule ever, including a road game April 19 against the D.C. Divas and a May 17 game against the Boston Militia, which will be played in Munhall, Pa.
"For the past four or five years, Chicago, Boston and D.C. have been the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. The fact that we're all playing each other in the regular-season means that seeding for playoffs will be determined by the outcome of those games, rather than a mathematical tiebreaker formula," Bache said. "The past three years, we have hosted Boston in the conference championship [game] by virtue of a better point differential. So there's a tremendous amount riding on those regular-season games."
The Force enters the season with key losses on offense and defense, including offensive superstar Ashley Berggren. The offense also will be without Karlee Quaritsch and Roz Bennett. On defense, Amanda Malsch and Taz Brooks are not returning.
Still, Bache said the 2014 team is impressive—on paper.
"We have the most talent and the deepest roster we've ever had. But we've had a number of veterans who have missed a lot of pre-season practice time due to career or medical issues. So I feel like things are a little messy right now," Bache said. "Once we can get into a groove, I think it will come together and hopefully we'll just get better as the season goes. But for right now, I have concerns about our readiness for [the] start of the season.
"I'm most excited about the talent level and the depth of this year's roster. There's a lot of playing experience amongst our veterans. And we've been very fortunate to have some players join us who have previous playing experience, such as Leeann Bluske, Kerri Olivar, Meagan Crockett, Anna Sandford and Kayley Peterson."
Bache said the cold temperatures and snow-filled winter certainly has "wreaked havoc" on the team's practice schedule. Numerous indoor practices were cancelled due to storms that made driving impossible. Outdoor practices started March 1, but the fields were still covered in snow and ice, so it was limited what could be done.
"Consequently, we are much farther behind in our preparation than we have been in previous years. I hope that our opponents have been similarly restricted in what they could do and are also less prepared," Bache said.
Chicago's biggest strength this season is, without question, its core group of returning veterans, many of whom are the best in the league at their position. That list starts with quarterback Sami Grisafe, wide receiver Jeanette Gray and linebacker Darcy Leslie. Grisafe and Leslie were the top offensive and defensive players, respectively, in the conference last season, and Gray was the leading receiver in the league in every category.
The Force also boasts four All-Americans returning on the offensive line: Dawn Pederson, Tami Engelman, Jamie Menzyk and Liz Okey. Key returning running backs include Brandy Hatcher and Mary Choules.
Keys on defense include All-Americans Kim Marks and Angel Smith, along with Jen Dulski, Elisha Okrey, Dorian Bridges, Melissa Nelson and Martha Dantuma.
Chicago's special teams unit will look a little different this season as long-time kicker Tricia Charbonneau has retired. Carolyn Lee is returning after a season off and she has handled the kicking duties in the past. Lee will play wide receiver as well.
Head coach John Konecki is returning for his sixth season, and boasts an overall record of 47-7. His winning percentage over the past three seasons is 94.3 percent. Defensive coordinator Adam Lewandowski along with assistant coaches Bill Smith, Nick Djurdjevic, and Carlos Jones are returning. Jim Ramazinski, a member of Konecki's staff at Crete Monee High School, is a newcomer with the Force.
Bache said the team has "a long list of very promising newcomers," such as Amber Kimbrough, Emilie Belanger, Jill Airaki, Paula Lehtinen, Elina Kero, Kelsey Casey, and Anne Witt.
"We're excited to be hosting the National Championship the weekend of August 1-2 at Lane Stadium," Bache said. "My main motivation in submitting a bid to host was that I thought we had a good chance to be in it. Not many of our fans were able to go to San Diego [in 2013] to cheer us on in the championship. I was hoping to get back to the championship in 2014 and be able to play in front of our home fans in the biggest game of all."
