After playoff run, Chicago Winds find new talent for Year 2

The Chicago Winds reached the Women's National Football Conference playoffs in Gallatin, Tennessee, during their debut season and are now recruiting for Year 2.

Their first game of the new season will take place on March 28, 2026, against the Tennessee Trojans.

Formed by the Austin native and former football player Angelique Smith in 2023, the team held its tryouts Saturday, October 18, at Columbus Park in Oak Park. Before the tryouts, the team partnered with Got Her Back girls' football camp to host a free event for girls aged six to 18 years old. 

The event was busy, with everyone from toddlers to experienced football players in attendance. Everyone got involved, tossing around the ball, running drills, and forming connections. 

The WNFC is one of two main professional women's tackle football leagues in America, alongside the Women's Football Alliance. The WNFC formed in 2017 and currently has 17 different teams across the country. The league is volunteer-based, with them not paying salaries to their players. 

The Chicago Winds did well during their first season, making it to the playoffs, winning five out of seven games. They also had several players break WNFC records, including their quarterback, Sarah Teubner, throwing the most touchdowns ever in a regular season, wide receiver Dajour Miles setting a new record for receiving yards and touchdowns, and linebacker Madeline Violet breaking a record for most tackles. They also won some titles, with Sarah Teubner winning the MVP award and Dajour Miles winning Rookie of the Year. 

“Last season exceeded my expectations from every level, from coaching staff to our leadership team to our players,” said Smith. 

She is excited for this upcoming season, saying that they have seen improvement in their returning players, are excited to add some new rookies, and plan on adding new coaches to their staff. 

She said the tryouts are competitive, with 89 people trying out for one of only 53 spots on the team. 

“The energy was high. You could feel how much women’s football continues to grow in Chicago. Our staff did a great job evaluating talent, and we left the day feeling confident about the direction we’re headed,” Smith said. 

Smith said the roster, which will be finalized and announced early December, will reflect a balance of returning veterans and newcomers. 

“Our quarterback room looks especially strong this year, and a few of our defensive players have really set the tone with their physicality and communication,” Smith said.

Like last year, the Got Her Back football camp took place before the tryouts, offering girls a free chance to play football and gain mentorship from Chicago Winds players. Leslie Robinson, volunteer with Got Her Back and running back for the Chicago Winds, said the turnout had doubled this year, with there being about 50 girls participating in the camp. She expects the event to increase even more next year. 

“I do think every year it's getting bigger. Last year, it was probably about half. We have a lot of interest, and we just hope that everyone who comes out with the interest ends up coming out and really feeling comfortable here,” Robinson said. 

At the camp, the girls combine drills, learn new skills and the rules of the game, and, of course, play football. At the end, the volunteers pass out awards to the girls for superlatives like fastest runner and best team player. 

Robinson said that the girls come from all over Chicago, and Got Her Back worked with Chicago Public Schools to promote the event. She also said the event provides community and keeps people out of trouble. 

“It really helps them with having each other's back, being a part of something bigger than themselves… and really just celebrating women and athletics,” she said. “We just got to keep breaking down those barriers and those glass ceilings.” 

One of the participants, fourteen-year-old Avery Johnson, said this is her second year coming to the camp, and that the experience is life-changing. 

She has been playing flag football for a couple of years, and originally started playing with the Villa Park Warriors, a youth league that offers a girls' flag football team. Johnson said the camp makes her a better player through education, practice, and mentorship, and she is happy to be able to make friends and play amongst girls her age. 

“There's a lot of great people here. I'm a really shy person, so I was honestly expecting …to not be talking at all. But everybody's so incredibly friendly,” Johnson said. 

Johnson hopes for there to be more opportunities for girls-only football in the future, hoping to play flag football in college. 

The team's marketing director, Iris Olimpia, says the team plans to work with Got Her Back and a few other volunteer opportunities throughout the season, especially on the West and South Sides of the city, where the team primarily plays. 

She also said the team is partnering with Diva Cup—a reusable menstrual cup—inspiring the team to launch a campaign to bring period awareness.

Once the camp ended, players eager to try out immediately filled the field, stretching and practicing an hour before the tryouts began. Many returning players were excited to see their teammates after the off-season.

Shayna Guerra, offensive line for the Chicago Winds, said finding the Chicago Winds provided a sense of belonging. “Being a bigger, taller, brawnier woman, it's not always easy to find your community, find a place where you don't stick out for the wrong reasons,” Guerra said. 

Guerra said the team's closeness and desire to improve are what make them able to stand up against long-standing teams. 

“We're having dinner, and going over plays, explaining concepts, building up the football IQ from the bottom, because a lot of us are not as seasoned as a lot of the other teams in our conference who have been playing together as a unit for 10 plus years, but I think we came together really strong, really fast,” Guerra said, with last season being her first season playing professional football. 

Other players have also said they are new to the sport, with football often being inaccessible to them as girls. 

Sarah Teubner attests to that, saying, “99% of our team knew absolutely nothing about football, and so the trajectory of our learning curve is just going to keep getting higher.” 

Teubner moved to Chicago to play for the Winds, and says that she has found her home through the sport and her team. 

“I never want to leave. This is exactly where I want to be, and these are my best friends, some of my favorite people. It means everything to me, pretty much my whole identity is that I'm a Chicago Wind,” Teubner said.