{"id":456309,"date":"2026-09-07T15:16:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T15:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/456309\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T15:16:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T15:16:46","slug":"oakland-based-womens-tackle-football-squad-readies-for-year-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/456309\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland-based women’s tackle football squad readies for Year Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Golden State Storm<\/a> smashed Women\u2019s National Football Conference records in its first year of existence, but goals for the team\u2019s sophomore season are higher.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s tackle football team drew roughly 1,700 fans per game to Laney College this spring, about three times the league average, and featured the WNFC\u2019s top tackler in its seven-year history as Leilani Caamal made 90 stops over the season\u2019s six games. The league\u2019s prior record for tackles in a season was 73.<\/p>\n

Caamal expressed her record-setting mentality succinctly, asking: \u201cCan I beat who I was last week?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s up to the Storm to beat who they were last year.<\/p>\n

Those involved with the team know that in order to do so and reach the playoffs for the first time, everyone will have to pitch in.<\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/a>Golden State Storm linebacker Leilani Caamal poses in front of a team background. (Alex Llamas\/Golden State Storm)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Head coach Daniel Robinson said he does some graphic design work for the team in addition to his coaching role. His wife gave detailed notes to ownership after the Storm\u2019s home opener on how to boost the fan experience, an area where Golden State focused resources at its launch. The players also went on a community engagement blitz before the season began in March.<\/p>\n

Part-owner Jake Langner says the Storm was the first WNFC team, as far as he knows, to use name, image and likeness deals to compensate players. Players join the league for the love of the game \u2013 they are not paid for their play.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy No. 1 goal is to be able to pay athletes,\u201d Langner said of his business plans.<\/p>\n

The coaching staff and front office also operated on a volunteer basis in the team\u2019s first season, but Langner was clear he wants that to change, too.<\/p>\n

Langner, who left a job at Google a couple years ago to seek a smaller company and angel investment opportunities, said the rush to field a team started in the early summer of 2025. He and co-owners Brad Grovich and Tony Lynn brought in an advisory board with some names familiar to Bay Area sports fans: Former San Jose State and 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia, Cal women\u2019s basketball general manager Meghin Williams and ex-Earthquakes GM Chris Leitch are among its members.<\/p>\n

After that came the coaching staff and the roster. Free agency opens in the summer, but according to Caamal and Robinson, many players don\u2019t sign until closer to training camp in January. That\u2019s also when Robinson joined up as wide receivers and quarterbacks coach.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Golden State Storm\u2019s Nakisha Harris (47), Golden State Storm\u2019s DJ Espinosa (19), Golden State Storm\u2019s Paulina Lopez (13) tackle the Oregon Raven\u2019s Sara Cabot (21), Oregon Raven\u2019s Jacque Lopez (1), and Oregon Raven\u2019s Jess Gerdes (37) in the second half at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, May 3, 2026. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a vice president and coach for a Vacaville youth football program, Robinson wanted to check things out before committing his time to the Storm. He visited a pre-training camp workout and was sold immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hooked because of their passion, their energy, how hungry they were for football,\u201d he said of the players, who also hold down day jobs \u2013 meaning their practice, conditioning and playbook studying time is reserved for nights and weekends.<\/p>\n

Among those women is Caamal , the WNFC\u2019s defensive player of the year, who estimated the Storm\u2019s roster was 70 percent rookies. Many of those first-year players were just beginning their tackle football experience as former high school and collegiate athletes in track, rugby or soccer.<\/p>\n

Caamal , 21, was technically a WNFC rookie, but she is no stranger to women\u2019s tackle football: She played the last five years for the Mile High Blaze in the Women\u2019s Football Alliance, a competing league founded in 2009. She also played flag football at Ottawa University in Kansas, one of the premier women\u2019s flag programs in the country, where she was coached by former 49ers assistant Katie Sowers in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.<\/p>\n

Seeking a new challenge, Caamal traveled west to join the Storm. She also saw the beginnings of an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t get fully compensated in either league, but the WNFC does offer in terms of brand sponsorships and NIL deals,\u201d Caamal said. \u201cThe Golden State Storm are probably one of the top three teams in the WNFC that have better player support. I feel like a lot more fans, being in the Bay Area, they buy into the women\u2019s sports scene that\u2019s out here, so we get a lot of people who are eager to partner with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/a>Golden State Storm\u2019s Nakisha Harris (47) walks on the field during a game against the Oregon Ravens at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, May 3, 2026. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

When she first arrived, Caamal stayed with family in the East Bay. This summer, she lived with Storm teammates she first connected with before the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of trust that had to be built very quickly,\u201d Caamal said, noting that community engagement efforts before the season helped create bonds off the field. \u201cWe don\u2019t have any film, we don\u2019t have any material things to really show you, because it\u2019s our first year. But please come.\u201d<\/p>\n

That work paid off in the season opener as the Storm set a WNFC attendance record with 2,123 fans. The Storm, Langner said, focused on the fan experience by offering five or six food vendors at Laney College compared to just one at many WNFC stadiums, a full bar with mixed drinks, a kid zone and a VIP deck.<\/p>\n

On the field, things were a bit shakier: The San Diego Rebellion beat them 36-0.<\/p>\n

The following week, things jelled much better as Alexis Contreras scored Golden State\u2019s first-ever touchdown and the Storm had its own blowout victory, 31\u20132 over the Las Vegas Silver Stars. The next game was a tight win over the Seattle Majestics, and suddenly the Storm had a winning record.<\/p>\n

Another hurdle was coming, though. Head coach Dallas Hartwell left the team for personal reasons, and Langner\u2019s front office had to make a quick midseason decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these people have full-time other jobs, they\u2019ve got other commitments both professionally and personally,\u201d\u00a0 Langner said. \u201cWe were lucky enough that we had a strong stable of assistant coaches, and Daniel stepped up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson and the Storm had a tall task up next, facing San Diego again. But they had a bye week to prepare. The Storm\u2019s first snap was a 70-yard gain, Robinson recalled, but it was called back for a procedure penalty. Still, it showed Golden State\u2019s players that they could hang. Caamal and the defense held San Diego to just seven points in the first half, but eventually the Rebellion won 17-0.<\/p>\n

San Diego\u2019s coaches asked Robinson how the Storm had improved so quickly from their season opener.<\/p>\n

Caamal\u2019s dominance continued the following week as her 19 tackles against the Oregon Ravens helped her surpass the WNFC single-season record of 73 with a game left to play. The Storm\u2019s 14-8 win kept Golden State in contention for the playoffs, but a road loss to the Los Angeles Legends in the regular-season finale sent them into the offseason.<\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/a>Golden State Storm linebacker Leilani Caamal warms up before a game during the 2026 season. (StanLi CoolBrick Creative via Golden State Storm)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Langner will spend the months before next season\u2019s kickoff reviewing the team\u2019s first year and hinted at the possibility of a crowdfunding campaign to sign fans up as part-owners, similar to what the East Bay\u2019s minor-league soccer and baseball teams have recently done. Robinson\u2019s youth football work will keep him busy \u2013 he coaches 14-year-olds in addition to his administrative tasks with the youth football program. Caamal\u2019s offseason gig was as an animal care intern at the Oakland Zoo, using her biology degree to work primarily with warthogs and giraffes as she seeks a zoology career.<\/p>\n

Her fellow players \u2013 school teachers, data scientists and mothers \u2013 will also be plenty busy, with Robinson expecting to hold informal offseason workouts and meetings this fall and winter in anticipation of the kickoff to the Storm\u2019s sophomore season next spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take this game very seriously, but we also like to have a lot of fun,\u201d Caamal said in a pitch to fans. \u201cTackle football is a full-time job, but on top of that, we also have a full-time job. The fan support helps.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Golden State Storm smashed Women\u2019s National Football Conference records in its first year of existence, but goals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[389,184,7,392,332,949,402,181,143,145,144,38747,395,88,397,198,200,127],"class_list":["post-456309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-alameda-county","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-contra-costa-county","tag-east-bay","tag-football","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-other-sports","tag-peninsula","tag-san-jose","tag-san-mateo-county","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}