Two Harrisburg Havoc players selected for Women’s Football Alliance bowl game
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – The Harrisburg Havoc, a women’s football tackle team based in the state capital, will send two players to Bogota, Columbia in February to compete in the Women’s Football Alliance’s (WFA) Coffee Bowl.
“I’m excited to not only play in a different country but to see the Columbia team to see how they do football or how different ours is compared to theirs,” said defensive lineman Kaeli Thomas.
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Thomas and her teammate Leah Crump are the first Pennsylvania players to be chosen to represent the WFA in an international competition. Crump, who mainly plays linebacker or quarterback but who will be playing wide receiver in the Coffee Bowl, is from Middletown. Crump grew up in Hanover.
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“I’m nervous honestly,” said Crump. “My main positions are linebacker or QB. I play some wide receiver, but to go and travel and play wide receiver for this – I’m really nervous. But it’s nothing I can’t do.”
Both women will play for Team United in the second-ever Coffee Bowl. In the competition, Columbia will play Costa Rica, Mexico will play Costa Rica and then Team United will play a combination of the teams.
The Harrisburg Havoc began three years ago and was created by Thomas and her mother. Thomas spent part of her youth in Arizona where she played lots of flag football. When her family moved to Pennsylvania at the age of 13 she continued to play until she aged out at 18.
“I couldn’t find a flag team anymore for 18 and older,” Thomas said. “So I found a tackle team that was playing and I was like, I don’t know if I want to do this. They’re going to hit me pretty hard. Got my first hit (and) I was like ‘Oh, I love this. This is awesome.’.”
Unfortunately, COVID-19 caused Thomas’s tackle team to fold. Thomas and her mother decided to start their own team to keep the game going in Central Pennsylvania and formed the Havoc.
The Havoc’s league, the WFA, has roots in Central Pennsylvania. The WFA is owned by husband and wife duo Lisa and Jeff King. Lisa is a native of Camp Hill and is the commissioner of the WFA and her husband Jeff is the commissioner of the international circuit.
Other women began joining the team, including Crump. Crump joined after meeting a group of girls while out on the town who persuaded her to come play for the Havoc.
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“I’ve always played football, but it (was) more like street football,” Crump said. “I grew up with boys, so me being the only girl I’m like ‘Okay, well I’m just like a boy for real because I can play, it doesn’t matter’.”
Crump had always wanted to try the sport in an organized setting, so she took the chance and tried out for the Havoc. Crump loved the game and her team and through the Havoc she found her family.
“This hits different for me because growing up, I didn’t have nothing,” Crump said. “It was family for real. When you play a sport like this, you get involved with different kinds of girls. Football brought family to me.”
Thomas echoed the sentiment of teammates, and even players from other women’s tackle football teams, being like family.
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“We share the same passion for women’s football and we’re all playing a men dominant sport,” Thomas said. “Even though we’re all wearing different jerseys sometimes and stuff, we’re all one big family.”
The Havoc will be bringing extra equipment with them to Columbia to donate to the teams there. Thomas noted that the team in Columbia does not have as many resources as they do here in Harrisburg. All of the WFA teams are self-funded, meaning that the players pay to play the game they love and have to sponsor themselves for travel to events such as this.
Crump and Thomas both cite the adrenaline that comes from playing as part of why they love tackle football. They both enjoy the physical elements involved as well.
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“I like hitting,” Crump said. “I love hitting females (while playing tackle football).”
To prepare for the big game, Crump and Thomas are conditioning along with the rest of the Havoc players. The Harrisburg Havoc’s season will start in April, which is after Crump and Thomas return from Columbia but they will be able to play in some scrimmages before the trip.
The Coffee Bowl is officially set for Sunday, Feb. 18.
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