Raffle Supports Local Pro Women's Football Team

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The team travels all over the country, but as a nonprofit, the players have to pay to play. So, they hold all kinds of fundraisers.

The NFL season may be over, but women's football in Reno is still going strong. That's right, Northern Nevada has a professional women's football team, the Nevada Storm. Some say it's one of Reno's best-kept secrets.

"There is is a two-time national championship women's tackle football team in town," said Laura Zander, who plays wide receiver and corner for the team. "They've won the national championship in two different divisions, they're the most elite, the highest level of the pro league in the country."

The team travels all over the country, but as a nonprofit, the players have to pay to play. So they hold all kinds of fundraisers, the latest being a raffle from Jimmy Beans Wool, a local business Zander founded more than two decades ago.

"We have raffle tickets for sale, they're $5 and 100% of the proceeds go to the team," Zander said. "We'll draw a winner and they will win a bag that we make, a canvas and leather bag filled with yarn that was developed at University of Nevada, so it's all full circle."

Community engagement is a big part of this team's mission - working with other nonprofits, and inspiring women of all ages.

"I really love the other women I play with, and I love our league," said Nevada Storm Board Member Kaelyn York. "The WFA stands for a mission to support girls and women in sports. I had the good fortune to go to the national championship game and one of the most amazing parts of that is you are surrounded by women that have incredible goals, who really work to be at the top of not only their career, football-wise, but these are women who are at the top of their field professionally."

And the hope is to keep inspiring.

"We've got to get more women and more girls playing this sport and coming together," Zander said. "Because the tackling is just one small part of it; it's about having a network of females and being on a team, it's phenomenal."

The players continue to give back.

"Football has really invited me into a greater community and shown me what it can be to live a life with a bit of a purpose, and have those mission-driven moments," York said. "And those decisions where, am I going to be involved in something? Yes, because I want to support what they're doing."

Nevada Storm: https://nevadastormfootball.com/

Jimmy Beans Wool: https://www.jimmybeanswool.com/

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