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The Sharks played their 2008 home games in Brooklyn, New York at the Aviator Sports Complex.

Click here for the 2008 Sharks roster
Click here for the 2008 Sharks statistics

2008 Season
Date	Opponent	Location	Score
April 19th	Baltimore Nighthawks	Aviator Sports Complex	26 – 6
April 26th	Central PA Vipers	Aviator Sports Complex	40 – 0
May 3rd	Baltimore Nighthawks	at Baltimore	54 – 28
May 10th	Boston Militia	at Boston	26 – 24
May 17th	Boston Militia	Aviator Sports Complex	14 – 28
May 31st	Pittsburgh Passion	at Pittsburgh	21 – 28
June 7th	D.C. Divas		14 – 8
June 14th	Central PA Vipers	at Harrisburg	31 – 0

(Click on the score to read the game write-up)

2008 IWFL Final Standings
Eastern Conference
North Atlantic Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-Pittsburgh Passion	8	0	0	1.000
New York Sharks	6	2	0	.750
Boston Militia	6	2	0	.750
D. C. Divas	4	4	0	.500
Baltimore Nighthawks	2	6	0	.250
Central PA Vipers	0	8	0	.000
South Atlantic Division
p-Orlando Mayhem	7	1	0	.875
Atlanta Xplosion	6	2	0	.750
Miami Fury	3	5	0	.375
Palm Beach Punishers	0	8	0	.000
Western Conference
Pacific Northwest Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-Seattle Majestics	8	0	0	1.000
Portland Shockwave	6	2	0	.750
Corvallis Pride	2	6	0	.250
Redding Rage	0	8	0	.000
Pacific Southwest Division
p-Sacramento Sirens	7	1	0	.875
Santa Rosa Scorchers	5	3	0	.625
California Quake	3	5	0	.375
Tucson Monsoon	1	7	0	.125
Midwest Division
p-Detroit Demolition	7	1	0	.875
Chicago Force	5	3	0	.625
Iowa Crush	2	6	0	.250
Detroit Predators	0	8	0	.000
Midsouth Division
Kansas City Tribe	6	2	0	.750
Shreveport Aftershock	2	5	0	.286
Louisiana Fuel	1	6	0	.143
Exhibition Teams
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
Carolina Phoenix	5	1	0	.833

p-playoff teams

IWFL Eastern Conference
	Atlanta Xplosion
	Boston Militia
	Cape Fear Thunder
	Delaware Griffins
	D.C. Divas
	Manchester Freedom
	Miami Fury
	Montreal Blitz
	New England Intensity
	New York Sharks
	Orlando Mayhem
	Palm Beach Punishers
	Southern Maine Rebels
IWFL Western Conference
	California Quake
	Chicago Force
	Corvallis Pride
	Detroit Demolition
	Detroit Predators
	Iowa Crush
	Kansas City Storm
	Louisiana Wildcats
	Portland Shockwave
	Redding Rage
	Sacramento Sirens
	Santa Rosa Scorchers
	Seattle Majestics
	Shreveport Aftershock
	Tucson Monsoon
Exhibition Teams
	Carolina Phoenix
	Indianapolis Chaos

Home

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The Sharks played their 2007 home games in Brooklyn, New York at the Aviator Sports Complex.

Click here for the 2007 Sharks roster
Click here for the 2007 Sharks statistics

2007 Season
Date	Opponent	Location	Score
April 28th	Miami Fury	at Miami	48 – 33
May 5th	D.C. Divas	Aviator Sports Complex	14 – 20
May 19th	Bay State Warriors	at Bay State	26 – 6
June 2nd	New England Intensity	Aviator Sports Complex	19 – 0
June 9th	Miami Fury	Aviator Sports Complex	41 – 18
June 16th	D.C. Divas	at D.C.	0 – 22
June 23rd	Southern Maine Rebels		2 – 0
June 30th	Delaware Griffins	Monsignor Farrell	27 – 0
Eastern Conference Wildcard Game
July 14th	Manchester Freedom	at Manchester	28 – 0
Eastern Conference Championship Game
July 28th	Atlanta Xplosion	at Atlanta	7 – 10

(Click on the score to read the game write-up)

2007 IWFL Final Standings
Eastern Conference
North Atlantic Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-New York Sharks	6	2	0	.750
Bay State Warriors	4	4	0	.500
New England Intensity	3	5	0	.375
Northeast Division
p-Manchester Freedom	6	2	0	.750
Montreal Blitz	6	2	0	.750
Southern Maine Rebels	0	8	0	.000
South Atlantic Division
p-Atlanta Xplosion	8	0	0	1.000
Orlando Mayhem	6	2	0	.750
Miami Fury	3	5	0	.375
Palm Beach Punishers	1	7	0	.125
Western Conference
Pacific Northwest Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-Seattle Majestics	8	0	0	1.000
Portland Shockwave	6	2	0	.750
Corvallis Pride	2	6	0	.250
Redding Rage	0	8	0	.000
Pacific Southwest Division
p-Sacramento Sirens	7	1	0	.875
Santa Rosa Scorchers	5	3	0	.625
California Quake	3	5	0	.375
Tucson Monsoon	1	7	0	.125
Midwest Division
p-Detroit Demolition	7	1	0	.875
Chicago Force	5	3	0	.625
Iowa Crush	2	6	0	.250
Detroit Predators	0	8	0	.000
Midsouth Division
Kansas City Tribe	6	2	0	.750
Shreveport Aftershock	2	5	0	.286
Louisiana Fuel	1	6	0	.143
Exhibition Teams
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
Carolina Phoenix	5	1	0	.833

p-playoff teams

IWFL Eastern Conference
	Atlanta Xplosion
	Boston Militia
	Cape Fear Thunder
	Delaware Griffins
	D.C. Divas
	Manchester Freedom
	Miami Fury
	Montreal Blitz
	New England Intensity
	New York Sharks
	Orlando Mayhem
	Palm Beach Punishers
	Southern Maine Rebels
IWFL Western Conference
	California Quake
	Chicago Force
	Corvallis Pride
	Detroit Demolition
	Detroit Predators
	Iowa Crush
	Kansas City Storm
	Louisiana Wildcats
	Portland Shockwave
	Redding Rage
	Sacramento Sirens
	Santa Rosa Scorchers
	Seattle Majestics
	Shreveport Aftershock
	Tucson Monsoon
Exhibition Teams
	Carolina Phoenix
	Indianapolis Chaos

Home

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The Sharks played their 2006 home games in Brooklyn, New York at Midwood High School.

Click here for the 2006 Sharks roster
Click here for the 2006 Sharks statistics

2006 Season
Date	Opponent	Location	Score
April 29th	Indianapolis Chaos	Midwood, Brooklyn	73 – 0
May 6th	Delaware Griffins	Brooklyn Tech	48 – 0
May 13th	Manchester Freedom	Midwood, Brooklyn	20 – 0
May 20th	Southern Maine Rebels	at Southern Maine	55 – 0
June 3rd	Delaware Griffins	Midwood, Brooklyn	47 – 0
June 10th	Montreal Blitz	Monsignor Farrell	53 – 7
June 17th	Montreal Blitz	Montreal	42 – 27
June 24th	Bay State Warriors	at Boston	24 – 16
Eastern Conference Wildcard Game
July 8th	Miami Fury	Monsignor Farrell	14 – 8
Eastern Conference Championship Game
July 15th	Atlanta Xplosion	Monsignor Farrell	14 – 35

(Click on the score to read the game write-up)

2006 IWFL Final Standings
Eastern Conference
Mid Atlantic Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-New York Sharks	8	0	0	1.000
Delaware Griffins	2	6	0	.250
Southern Maine Rebels	1	7	0	.125
North Atlantic Division
p-Boston Militia	8	7	1	.875
Manchester Freedom	3	4	0	.429
Montreal Blitz	3	5	0	.375
South Atlantic Division
p-Atlanta Xplosion	7	1	0	.875
p-Miami Fury	7	1	0	.875
Orlando Mayhem	3	5	0	.375
Louisian Fuel	3	5	0	.375
Tampa Bay Terminators	2	6	0	.250
Western Conference
Pacific Northwest Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-Portland Shockwave	7	1	0	.875
Corvallis Pride	5	3	0	.625
Seattle Majestics	5	3	0	.625
Eugene Edge	0	9	0	.000
Pacific Southwest Division
p-Sacramento Sirens	6	2	0	.750
Santa Rosa Scorchers	6	2	0	.750
California Quake	4	4	0	.500
Redding Rage	2	6	0	.250
Oakland Banshees	0	2	0	.000
Midwest Division
p-Detroit Demolition	8	0	0	1.000
Chicago Force	6	2	0	.750
Kansas City Tribe	3	5	0	.375
Detroit Predators	2	6	0	.250
Exhibition Teams
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
Iowa Crush	4	4	0	.500
Indianapolis Chaos	1	6	0	.143
Carolina Cardinals	0	5	0	.000
Tucson Monsoon	0	6	0	.000

p-playoff teams

IWFL Eastern Conference
	Atlanta Xplosion
	Baton Rouge Wildcats
	Baystate Warriors
	Delaware Griffins
	Manchester Freedom
	Montreal Blitz
	Miami Fury
	New York Sharks
	Orlando Mayhem
	Southern Maine Rebels
	Tampa Bay Terminators
IWFL Western Conference
	California Quake
	Chicago Force
	Corvallis Pride
	Detroit Demolition
	Detroit Predators
	Eugene Edge
	Kansas City Storm
	Oakland Banshees
	Portland Shockwave
	Redding Rage
	Sacramento Sirens
	Santa Rosa Scorchers
	Seattle Majestics
Exhibition Teams
	Carolina Cardinals
	Indianapolis Chaos
	Iowa Crush
	Tucson Monsoon

The 2005 season was a season of adversity. Before the season even started, starters defensve starters Darleen Hall, Chrissy Hilla, and Lynn Lewis retired. On offense, Anna Tate, Kathy Holloman, Platinum, and Dana Sparling retired. And to add injury to insult, Monica Marsh and Karen Mulligan got hurt during the off-season and missed playing for the year. The loss of players didn’t stop once the season started. Starters Lori DeVivio, Chantal Bauer, Nikki Gwinnett, and Toni Salvatore were lost during the season due to injuries.

It got so bad that Sparling had to come out of retirement for the last 2 games of the regular season. But it wasn’t all bad news on the personnel side. The rookie class of 2005 proved to be the most deep and talented group ever. Megan Antonucci, Leslie Dock, Lisa Doran, Shayna Pinckney, and Mandy Oppel all played in their first season of football. Also joining the team was Junko Tanida. Tandia was a star receiver who previously played for the California Quake and Sacramento Sirens.

Other changes included the coaching staff. Former player Lynn Lewis retired as a player but returned to the team as a head coach. Lewis was in a rare class of being a female head coach of a women’s football team.

Home

Away

The Sharks played their 2005 home games in Staten Island, New York at Monsignor Farrel High School.

Click here for the 2005 Sharks roster
Click here for the 2005 Sharks statistics

2005 Season
Date	Opponent	Location	Score
April 9th	Bay State Warriors	at Bay State	41 – 12
April 16th	Southern Maine Rebels	at Southern Maine	32 – 6
April 23rd	Connecticut Lightning	Monsignor Farrell	36 – 0
April 30th	Manchester Freedom	at Manchester	28 – 0
May 14th	Rhode Island Intensity	at Rhode Island	40 – 6
May 21st	Bay State Warriors	Monsignor Farrell	9 – 0
June 4th	Souhern Maine Rebels	Monsignor Farrell	28 – 6
June 11th	Manchester Freedom	Monsignor Farrell	43 – 0
June 18th	Rhode Island	Monsignor Farrell	59 – 0
June 25th	Montreal Blitz	Monsignor Farrell	41 – 7
Eastern Conference Wildcard Game
July 9th	Southern Maine Rebels	Monsignor Farrell	26 – 0
Eastern Conference Championship Game
July 23rd	Atlanta Xplosion	Monsignor Farrell	0 – 3

(Click on the score to read the game write-up)

2005 IWFL Final Standings
Eastern Conference
Mid Atlantic Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-New York Sharks	10	0	0	1.000
p-Southern Maine Rebels	8	2	0	.800
Bay State Warriors	3	7	0	.300
Manchester Freedom	3	7	0	.300
Rhode Island Intensity	1	9	0	.100
South Atlantic Division
p-Jacksonville Dixie Blues	8	2	0	.800
Tampa Bay Terminators	7	3	0	.700
Orlando Mayhem	0	10	0	.000
South Central Division
p-Atlanta Xplosion	10	0	0	1.000
Baton Rouge Wildcats	2	8	0	.200
f-Texas Revolution	0	6	0	.000
Western Conference
Pacific Northwest Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-Tacoma Majestics	9	1	0	.900
p-Corvallis Pride	8	2	0	.800
Portland Shockwave	3	5	0	.375
Boise Xtreme	2	8	0	.200
Eugene Edge	1	9	0	.100
Pacific Southwest Division
p-Sacramento Sirens	10	0	0	1.000
Santa Rosa Scorchers	7	3	0	.700
California Quake	6	3	1	.650
Oakland Banshees	5	4	1	.550
Redding Rage	3	7	0	.300
f-So Cal Bandits	7	3	0	.700
Midwest Division
p-Chicago Force	8	2	0	.800
Kansas City Storm	4	5	1	.450
Detroit Predators	4	5	1	.450
Exhibition Teams
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
Connecticut Lightning	6	2	0	.750
Miami Fury	4	4	0	.500
Tucson Wildfire	4	5	0	.444
Des Moines Courage	4	6	0	.400
Montreal Blitz	0	4	0	.000
Des Moines Courage	1	4	0	.200

p-playoff teams
f-folded from league

IWFL Eastern Conference
	Atlanta Xplosion
	Baton Rouge Wildcats
	Baystate Warriors
	Jacksonville Dixie Blues
	Manchester Freedom
	New York Sharks
	Orlando Mayhem
	Rhode Island Intensity
	Southern Maine Rebels
	Tampa Bay Terminators
	Texas Revolution
IWFL Western Conference
	Boise Xtreme
	California Quake
	Chicago Force
	Corvallis Pride
	Detroit Predators
	Eugene Edge
	Kansas City Storm
	Oakland Banshees
	Portland Shockwave
	Redding Rage
	Sacramento Sirens
	Santa Rosa Scorchers
	So Cal Bandits
	Tacoma Majestics
Exhibition Teams
	Connecticut Lightning
	Des Moines Courage
	Montreal Blitz
	Tucson Wildfire

With women’s football spreading across the nation, there were not only more teams, but better quality teams. The 2004 season represented a strong challenge for the New York Sharks. Last season they came within 30 minutes of repeating as IWFL champions. If the Sharks were to win this year they were going to run a gauntlet of some of the best teams in the nation. New York’s schedule included 4 games against teams that went undefeated in 2003 and another game against a team that lost only once. Their oppponent’s 2003 winning percentage was a lofty .815.

To add to the difficulty was a new coaching staff for the Sharks. Coach Ruben Sanchez

Player-wise the Sharks were well stocked. Most of the eastern conference lost 2 veteran receivers returning players Kathy Holloman, a former University of Connecticut track star. Lori DeVivio Lynn Lewis Veronica Simmons Kim Bishop Dana Sparling Beth Nugent Lakisha Grant was back. former NWFA Shauna Seegers lost Cha Chi

Home

Away

The Sharks played their 2004 home games in Queens, New York at August Martin High School.

Click here for the 2004 Sharks roster
Click here for the 2004 Sharks statistics

2004 Season
Date	Opponent	Location	Score
April 4th	Atlanta Xplosion	August Martin	28 – 21
April 17th	New Hampshire Freedom	August Martin	26 – 0
April 24th	Montreal Blitz	August Martin	20 – 0
May 8th	Chicago Force	at Chicago	6 – 2
May 15th	Bay State Warriors	August Martin	45 – 0
May 22nd	Chicago Force	August Martin	27 – 7
June 5th	Rhode Island Intensity	at Rhode Island	41 – 16
June 12th	Bay State Warriors	at Bay State	35 – 0
Eastern Conference Wildcard Game
June 26th	Chicago Force	August Martin	40 – 0
Eastern Conference Championship Game
July 10th	Tampa Bay Terminators	August Martin	29 – 7
IWFL Championship Game
July 12th	Sacramento Sirens	at Sacramento	27 – 29

(Click on the score to read the game write-up)

2004 IWFL Final Standings
Eastern Conference
Mid Atlantic Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-New York Sharks	8	0	0	1.000
p-Chicago Force	6	2	0	.750
New Hampshire Freedom	4	3	1	.563
North Atlantic Division
Montreal Blitz	6	2	0	.750
Bay State Warriors	0	8	0	.000
South Atlantic Division
p-Tampa Bay Terminators	6	2	0	.750
p-Atlanta Xplosion	5	3	0	.625
f-Orlando	2	6	0	.250
Western Conference
Pacific Northwest Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-Tacoma Majestics	8	0	0	1.000
p-Corvallis Pride	6	2	0	.750
Portland Shockwave	3	5	0	.375
Boise Xtreme	2	6	0	.250
Eugene Edge	1	7	0	.125
Pacific West Division
p-Sacramento Sirens	7	1	0	1.000
San Francisco Stingrayz	6	2	0	.750
Santa Rosa Scorchers	2	6	0	.250
Southwest Division
p-Oakland Banshees	8	0	0	1.000
San Diego Seacatz	3	5	0	.375
California Quake	0	8	0	.000
Exhibition Teams
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
Jacksonville Dixie Blues	7	1	0	.857
Rhode Island Intensity	3	4	0	.429
Memphis	0	2	2	.500
Southern Maine Rebels	2	4	1	.357
Des Moines Courage	1	4	0	.200
Carolina Spartans	0	4	0	.000
Redding Rage	0	3	0	.000
Knoxville Summit	0	3	0	.000
Detroit Predators	0	3	0	.000

p-playoff teams
f-folded from league

IWFL Eastern Conference
	Atlanta Xplosion
	Baystate Warriors
	Chicago Force
	Montreal Blitz
	New Hampshire Freedom
	New York Sharks
	Orlando Starz
	Tampa Bay Terminators
IWFL Western Conference
	Boise Xtreme
	California Quake
	Corvallis Pride
	Eugene Edge
	Memphis Matrix
	Oakland Banshees
	Portland Shockwave
	Sacramento Sirens
	San Diego Seacatz
	San Francisco Stingrayz
	Santa Rosa Scorchers
	Tacoma Majestics
Exhibition Teams
	Detroit Predators
	Rhode Island Intensity

The New York Sharks began the 2003 season as the defending Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL) Champions. The Sharks looked strong with many veteran players returning for the new season, but there were still some question marks. The biggest concern was with the offensive and defensive lines. New York lost 3 out of 5 starters on the offensive line and 3 out of 4 starters on the defensive line. To make matters worse, defensive end Beth Nugentinjured her knee in training camp and was lost for the season, giving the Sharks only 2 lineswomen, Anna “Tonka” Tate and Debra Wasilewski, returning for the season.

To help fill these holes, the Sharks looked to some new recruits and some veterans who did not play with the Sharks in 2002.

Returning as head coach was Nick Gianatassio. Having one year under his belt to get to know what his players can do, Gianatassio unleashed quarterback Val Halesworth and receivers Val “Peanut” Monaco, Liz “Magic” Presto, and Jen Blum on the rest of the league. The result was the Sharks filled the air with footballs for league records in passing yards and touchdown passes. The passing game was so potent that the Sharks had 50% more passing yards than any other team in the league.

As the Sharks started the season, the question marks seemed to go away as New York rolled over their opponents.

The Sharks played their 2003 home games in Queens, New York at August Martin High School and in Staten Island, New York at Monsignor Farrell High School.

Click here for the 2003 Sharks roster
Click here for the 2003 Sharks statistics

2003 Season
Date	Opponent	Location	Score
April 12th	Montreal Blitz	August Martin	52 – 0
April 19th	Philadelphia Liberty Belles	at Philadelphia	48 – 0
April 26th	Rhode Island Riptide	Monsignor Farrell	62 – 0
May 10th	Albany Night-Mares	at Albany	98 – 0
May 17th	Philadelphia Liberty Belles	Monsignor Farrell	58 – 0
May 31st	Albany Night-Mares	August Martin	41 – 0
June 7th	Miami Fury	at Miami	20 – 6
June 9th	Tampa Bay Terminators	at Tampa Bay	36 – 0
Eastern Conference Championship Game
June 26th	Bay State Warriors	August Martin	20 – 6
IWFL Championship Game
July 12th	Sacramento Sirens	St. John’s	30 – 41

(Click on the score to read the game write-up)

2003 IWFL Final Standings
Eastern Conference
Mid Atlantic Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-New York Sharks	8	0	0	1.000
Philadelphia Liberty Belles	3	4	0	.429
Albany Night-Mares	1	5	0	.167
North Atlantic Division
p-Bay State Warriors	8	0	0	1.000
Montreal Blitz	4	4	0	.500
New Hampshire Freedom	3	5	0	.375
Rhode Island Riptide	2	7	0	.222
South Atlantic Division
p-Miami Fury	6	2	0	.750
Tampa Bay Terminators	4	5	0	.444
Orlando Starz	1	8	0	.111
Western Conference
Pacific Northwest Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
p-Tacoma Majestics	7	1	0	.875
Corvallis Pride	5	1	1	.786
Portland Shockwave	5	3	1	.611
Eugene Edge	2	6	0	.250
Boise Xtreme	2	8	0	.200
Pacific Southwest Division
p-Sacramento Sirens	9	0	0	1.000
Oakland Banshees	5	5	0	.500
California Quake	3	5	0	.375
Santa Rosa Scorchers	1	9	0	.100
Southwest Division
p-Chicago Force	9	0	0	1.000
Dallas Revolution	4	2	0	.667
d-Memphis Maulers	1	3	0	.250
Oklahoma City Avengers	1	7	0	.125
Exhibition Teams
Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
Atlanta Xplosion	5	1	0	.833
San Francisco Stingrayz	4	2	0	.667
Detroit Blaze	0	6	0	.000
San Diego Seacatz	0	4	0	.000

p-playoff teams
f-folded from league

IWFL Eastern Conference
	Albany Night-Mares
	Baystate Warriors
	Miami Fury
	Montreal Blitz
	New Hampshire Freedom
	New York Sharks
	Orlando Starz
	Philadelphia Liberty Belles
	Rhode Island Riptide
	Tampa Bay Terminators
IWFL Western Conference
	Boise Xtreme
	California Quake
	Chicago Force
	Corvallis Pride
	Dallas Revolution
	Eugene Edge
	Memphis Maulers
	Oakland Banshees
	Oklahoma City Avengers
	Portland Shockwave
	Sacramento Sirens
	Santa Rosa Scorchers
	Tacoma Majestics
Exhibition Teams
	Atlanta Xplosion
	San Francisco Stingrayz
	Detroit Blaze
	San Diego Seacatz

The New York Sharks joined the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL) for the 2002 season. The IWFL was a fledgling league only in its second year, playing in the springtime. The league originally started in Austin, Texas but grew to a 14 team league operating in both the United States and Canada. Another 2 cities joined the league as exhibition teams for the 2002 season.

Before the start of the 2002 season, tragedy struck the New York Sharks family. Defensive standout Sharon Pascale was killed in a car accident on Christmas morning. Sharon was a teacher in Brooklyn and was much loved by her family, her students and her teammates. The New York Sharks had dedicated the 2002 season to Sharon and wore her number, “51” over their heart on their uniform.

The Sharks started the 2002 season in a brand new style. They joined a new league, hired a whole new coaching staff, had a new home field, and were now sporting brand new uniforms. The uniforms were black with silver trim and blue numbers. On the left side of the chest was a small blue shark emblem and on the right side was a blue football emblem with the number 51 on it to honor Sharon.

Even though there was a lot different about the Sharks, they continued to do the same old thing, win. Like last season the Sharks continued to dominate each game defensively. The defense gave up only 12 points the entire season while posting 5 shutouts. Linebacker Missy Marmorale led the team in tackles (91) and sacks (8.5) while Lori DeVivio led the team in interceptions with 4. Offensively, the Sharks displayed more scoring punch than ever before. Led by quarterback Val Halesworth (QB rating of 143.1), the Sharks scored close to 40 points per game during the regular season. Also powering the offense was running back Courtney Eaton with 12 touchdowns and wide receiver Valerie “Peanut” Monaco with 7 touchdowns. Lakisha Grantalso made a big splash rushing for 4 touchdowns on opening day, but was injured in the second game and was lost for the season.

Throughout the season the Sharks rolled through their schedule finally finishing the season with a perfect 7-0 record. With that record, the Sharks were on top of the IWFL Eastern Conference and this earned them a trip to the inaugural IWFL Championship game. The championship game was held in Ashland, Oregon on July 6th. The Sharks were facing the tough Austin Outlaws, the IWFL Western Conference champions. Playing on a very hot day, the Sharks defense again came up big, not allowing the Outlaws to score at all. While the offense sometimes stalled, they still were able to put 3 touchdowns on the board to win the game and the IWFL championship, 24-4. The Sharks were World Champions.

It was a fitting ending to a season the team had dedicated to their teammate.

Sharks Hoo-Rah 5-1!

The Sharks played their 2002 home games in Queens, New York at August Martin High School.

Click here for the 2002 Sharks roster
Click here for the 2002 Sharks statistics

2002 Season
Date	Opponent	Location	Score
April 20th	Montreal Blitz	August Martin	45 – 6
April 27th	Bay State Warriors	August Martin	40 – 0
May 11th	Detroit Blaze (exhibition)	August Martin	73 – 0
May 18th	Montreal Blitz	at Montreal	44 – 0
June 1st	Albany Night-Mares	at Albany	34 – 6
June 8th	Bay State Warriors	at Bay State	26 – 0
June 15th	New Hampshire Freedom	August Martin	64 – 0
June 22nd	Bay State Warriors	August Martin	22 – 2
IWFL Championship Game
July 6th	Austin Outlaws	at Oregon	24 – 4

(Click on the score to read the game write-up)

2002 IWFL Final Standings
Eastern Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Pct.
p-New York Sharks	7	0	1.000
Orlando Starz	4	1	.800
Bay State Warriors	5	4	.625
Montreal Blitz	4	4	.500
Tampa Tempest	2	3	.400
New Hampshire Freedom	2	6	.250
Albany Night-Mares	0	6	.000
Western Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Pct.
p-Corvalis Pride	7	0	1.000
p-Austin Outlaws	7	1	.875
Oklahoma City Lightning	5	3	.625
Memphis Maulers	5	4	.556
Eugene Edge	4	4	.500
Oregon Thunder	0	8	.000
Tulsa Tornadoes	0	8	.000

p-playoff teams

IWFL Eastern Division
	Albany Night-Mares
	Baystate Warriors
	Montreal Blitz
	New Hampshire Freedom
	New York Sharks
	Orlando Starz
	Tampa Tempest
IWFL Western Division
	Austin Outlaws
	Corvallis Pride
	Eugene Edge
	Memphis Maulers
	Oklahoma City Lightning
	Oregon Thunder
	Tulsa Tornadoes

The New York Sharks prepared for the 2001 season as a member of the Women’s Professional Football League. But there soon became some disagreements between the league and the Sharks on what was expected from each party. The Sharks already had the players set to go so management decided to pull the team out of the WPFL and play the 2001 season as an independent team.

The 2001 season consisted of a 10 game schedule with some games against the WPFL, like the Tampa Tempest and old arch-rival New England Storm but also included other independent teams. Some of these teams were members of other leagues like the IWFL Arizona Titans, while another was a team that had also pulled out of the WFPL, the Syracuse Stings (formerly known as the New York Galaxy).

The season was a strong one for the Sharks as they finished the season with 6-1 record. Offensively the team was led by quarterback Jen Lueck who threw for 8 touchdown passes and running back Kathy Holloman who rushed for 4 touchdowns. The defense was also superb as they shut-out the opposing team 4 times during the season and gave up on average only 5 points per game.

On September 11th, the World Trade Center was attacked. Fear and sorrow surrounded the nation and especially around New York City. The games were postponed for the next 3 weeks as it was difficult for teams to get flights to New York City and playing football just didn’t seem right with Ground Zero being only 10 miles away.

The Sharks re-started the season on October 7th with a victory over the visiting New England Storm. But on this day, the United States started bombing Afghanistan in retalliation of the World Trade Center attack. After the game, the decision to cancel the rest of the season was made. It was not known at the time how difficult it might be for teams to travel to New York. It was said on the radio that the New York City mayor, Rudy Guilliani might seal the city off as was done on September 11th and there was the fear that the New York Sharks could not guarantee the safety of visiting teams.

On October 19th, it was announced that the New York Sharks would be joining the Independent Women’s Football League for the 2002 season. This 12 team league would start playing in the Spring of 2002 and gives the Sharks a chance to get into the playoffs.

The Sharks played their 2001 home games on two fields. They played one of their home games at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New york and the other at Kane Stadium in Secaucus, New Jersey.

he New York Sharks were members of the Women’s Professional Football League for the 2000 season. This was the inaugural season for the new league which consisted of 11 teams divided into 2 conferences, the American and National conferences. The National Conference was divided into 2 divisions, the East and South divisions. The American Conference was divided into 2 divisions also, the Central and West divisions. The Sharks were in the East Division of the National Conference. League play began on October 14th with each team scheduled to play 10 games. The season would culminate with the WPFL Championship Game on February 3, 2001 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The Sharks sported a new uniform and logo design for the new league. Their colors were changed to black and blue from the black and white design the year before. The Shark logo was also streamlined for the season. New York opened their season on the road in Providence, Rhode Island as they took on the New England Storm on October 22nd. Running back Natalie Jufer showed early on that she was one of the offensive stars of the new league. Jufer scored the team’s two touchdowns as the Sharks won their first league game, 16-8.

As the season wore on, it quickly became apparent that the league was having financial difficulties. By the end of November, the operations of the league was taken over by one of the teams and the rest of the regular season was cancelled. The sudden changes made by the league to try and salvage the season resulted in a bizarre chain of events where the Sharks had to play 2 games in 2 consecutive days. The league notified the team only 2 days in advance of a change in schedule. The league wanted the Sharks to go to Rhode Island to play the New England Storm in week 8. But the Sharks already had scheduled an exhibition home game against the WCFL New York Gems. It being too late to cancel the home game, the Sharks played the Gems and trounced them 50-12. The next day, the Sharks minus their starters, went to Rhode Island to play the New England Storm. The coaches had decided that this game did not effect the outcome of the standings for the Sharks, so they left the starters in New York to rest. Without any of their starters, the Sharks were overwhelmed and lost 48-12.

The next Saturday, the Sharks and Storm met again. This time it was the first round of the playoffs as they played in the National Conference Wildcard Playoff Game. But even with all of their starters playing in this game, the Sharks played tough but could not get the victory against the Storm. New York lost to New England by the score of 10-7.

The Sharks played their 2000 home games at Mitchell Field in Uniondale, New York.

Click here for the 2000 Sharks roster

2000 Regular Season
Date	Opponent	Location	Score
October 22nd	New England Storm	at New England	16 – 8
October 28th	New England Storm	Mitchell Field	0 – 3
November 4th	Oklahoma City Wildcats	at Oklahoma	26 – 6
November 11th	Miami Fury	Mitchell Field	19 – 12
November 18th	New York Galaxy	Mitchell Field	41 – 0
December 1st	New York Gems*	Mitchell Field	50 – 12
December 2nd	New England Storm	at New England	12 – 48
Playoffs
December 9th	New England Storm	at New England	7 – 10

* exhbition game

(Click on the score to read the game write-up)

2000 WPFL Final Standings
National Conference
East Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Pct.
p-New York Sharks	4	2	.667
p-New England Storm	4	2	.667
New York Galaxy	0	4	.000
South Division
p-Daytona Beach Barracudas	6	0	1.000
Miami Fury	3	4	.429
Tampa Tempest	0	6	.000
American Conference
Central Division
Team	Wins	Losses	Pct.
p-Minnesota Vixens	5	0	1.000
p-Colorado Valkyries	4	2	.667
West Division
c-Houston Energy	5	2	.714
Austin Rage	2	5	.286
Oklahoma City Wildcats	0	6	.000

p-playoff teams c-league champion

WPFL National Conference
	Daytona Beach Barracudas
	Miami Fury
	New England Storm
	New York Galaxy
	New York Sharks
	Tampa Tempest
WPFL American Conference
	Austin Rage
	Colorado Valkyries
	Houston Energy
	Minnesota Vixens
	Oklahoma City Wildcats
Exhibition Team
	New York Gems (WCFL)

Beginnings

The New Yorks Sharks originally started as a women’s flag football team called the Long Island Sharks. They played in international tournaments and were national champions.

In 1999 the Women’s Professional Football League was formed. It consisted of two teams, the Minnesota Vixens and the Lake Michigan Minx. They barnstormed around the country playing each other in what was called the “No Limits” Tour. They had heard about the success of the Long Island Sharks and challenged them to a full contact, tackle football game.

The Sharks accepted the challenge and with two months to prepare, converted their flag football team to a tackle football team. On Saturday, December 11th, the Minnesota Vixens came to Mitchell Field to take on the Sharks. The Vixens were definitely the favorites having played 4 games already and had a 2-2 record.

The Sharks were coached by former New York Jet Bobby Jackson. Before 300 fans on a windy day at Mitchell Field, the Sharks shocked Minnesota, defeating them 12-6. The Sharks scored on two touchdown passes by quarterback Val Halesworth in the third quarter. One score was on a bomb to Natalie Jufer that led to a 71-yard touchdown. The other score was a 17 yard pass to Valerie Monaco.

For more on the game, you can read two New York Times articles, “That’s Football, Ladies” and “Quarterback Plays as Tough as She Talks”.

Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
MN – (00:37) 1 yard (Kick failed)

Third Quarter
NY – (01:43) Jufer 71 yard pass from Halesworth (run failed)
NY – (00:00) Monaco17 yard pass from Halesworth (run failed)