Women’s Tackle Football Team Set To Kick Off Season—

Newtown Women Hit The Gridiron (And The Opposition)

By Andy Hutchison

DANBURY — Football has seemingly become more and more appealing to female fans throughout the years and it’s no longer uncommon to see them wearing women’s-cut uniforms of their favorite players. But some local pigskin fanatics are taking it a step farther. In fact, watch out guys, these gals are now playing the game of Xs and Os … and we’re not talking about flag football here.

Newtown residents Lynn Kovack and Christie Caruso are among a group of 40-plus women comprising the roster of the Northeastern Nitro, one of 60 professional full-tackle women’s teams across the country that belong to the Women’s Football Alliance. The Nitro, which will begin the regular season this Saturday, April 2, is based in Danbury.

Kovack, 44, and Caruso, 23, both play the free safety position and are excited to put their practice skills to the test in games. The Nitro kicks off the campaign with a home game against the New England Nightmare (at Immaculate High in Danbury at 3 pm).

Kovack, who is married and has children and grandchildren, has been a Newtown resident for 25 years. Being involved in sports is nothing new for her — she plays volleyball and softball in the summer, and has played flag football before — but this tackle stuff is something new for Kovack. Is she ready for it? “You bet your [butt],” Kovack said during a break at a recent practice at Rogers Park.

Along with her teammates, she’s been working out regularly since trying out for the team in the fall. The Nitro players have been practicing since February.

“It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun,” said Kovack, adding that it’s worth playing “just to show that we’re not just pretty cheerleaders. We can get out there and we can be just as tough as the men are.”

Kovack works fulltime at the Newtown Building Department and trains dogs on the side.

Caruso says her mom heard about the Nitro. “She was really hesitant to tell me. She knew I wanted to play since middle school,” the 23-year-old said.

Caruso played field hockey, basketball, and softball growing up, but always gravitated toward the gridiron.

 “I wanted to play in middle school with the boys, but they wouldn’t let me so I did cheerleading and it was awful. I’d sit there the whole time just mad I wasn’t in the game.”

Now she is in the game, and is thrilled to have the chance to put on the pads, strap on the helmet, and throw her shoulder into opposing players.

“I’m so excited. I just want to prove that girls can do it too. It’s so much fun — once you learn how to tackle and how not to get hurt it’s a lot less scary,” Caruso said.

She is taking course at Western Connecticut State University and is looking to become a special education teacher.

“It’s great. The athleticism on the team is phenomenal,” said Gary Peloso, the team’s general manager and special teams coach, who resides in Brookfield. His son, Gary Peloso, Jr, is among the coaches; the staff comprises former players and boys’ coaches who are getting a feel for teaching the game to women for a change.

Head Coach Dan Coffin, of Trumbull, admits he was skeptical about coaching women’s football players at first, but is pleasantly surprised by how the women are absorbing information and applying it during practice drills.

“From day one, when I got here, I was hooked,” Coffin said. “I was surprised at the talent level. They’re aggressive — they hit.”

“It’s about time. It was only a natural fit that women’s football would come to the area,” Newtown resident Jan Brown said. Brown volunteers with the team. She helped out at the tryouts and will run the concession stand at games. “I think it’s going to be so exciting to watch these girls play and do their thing out there.”

The team members range in age from 19 to 50-something and the roster includes women involved in a variety of careers, mothers, and students.

The team’s owners are Carley Pesente, who also plays middle linebacker, and Amy Manfred, an outside linebacker. The women have played football for about a decade. Pesente, who lives in Bethel, previously owned a team in New York State, which she sold. Pesente figured, with all of the semiprofessional sports teams near her hometown, including the Danbury Whalers hockey team, why not get something going here?

“This is a great opportunity to show women they can do things they don’t normally do or are expected to do,” Pesente said.

Manfred commutes from her home in Westerly, R.I., to be with the team every weekend. “Together, we split up the responsibility and we work well together,” she said of running the team with Pesente.

To offset costs of paid staff members, officials, and use of fields, the team seeks sponsors.

Lee Day, team’s medical director, who also served as the medical director with the Whalers, works with Danbury-based Connecticut Family Orthopedics and OrthoPrompt, which sponsor the team. Day, a Newtown resident, welcomes the opportunity to work with women and notes that it will be a learning experience because women’s builds and recovery processes are different than those of men.

“For me, to get a chance to work with 45 athletic women like this, I’m going to learn a lot from them,” Day said.

Tryouts were held back in the fall and practices began at Newtown Youth Academy in February. The women worked on their skills Saturday nights from 8 to 10 pm and, after a short night of sleep to recharge, went back for a 4:30 am practice. They took whatever time they could get to improve and prepare for the start of the season. In recent weeks, they’ve been practicing outside on the weekends.

Pesente and Manfred welcome organizations interested in group tickets to contact the team. Peloso recognizes the importance of team involvement in the community and invites all organizations running charity events to contact him at 203-790-4806. Visit northeasternnitro.com or wfafootball.com for more information.