Football league seeks more exposure
- By Steve Louden
- Waukesha Freeman
- Published: 07/04/2003
OCONOMOWOC – Organizers have high aspirations for a southeastern Wisconsin football league they started seven years ago.
"Basically, we're trying to make it a semi-pro league," said Jason Tomczyk, director of player personnel for the Ironman Football League and tailback for the Menomonee Falls Crusaders.
Chris Chudada of Pewaukee and his father, the late Joe Chudada, started the league in 1996 with 12 men who played weekly six-on-six contests. As tavern and other local sponsorships grew, so did the league.
Chris Chudada said the league is about 650 players strong this year. The men are divided among 10 teams. Waukesha County communities represented are Waukesha, Mukwonago, New Berlin, Menomonee Falls and Muskego.
"We're trying to get where we could pay our players," said Chudada, the league's commissioner and CEO. "Our dream is to have our own little NFL."
In its second year, the league sported six full teams.
"It wasn't very organized, but it was a start," Tomczyk said.
That start triggered the desire to expand the league, and Chudada said he hopes the expansion will cross the country.
"We've been talking with other leagues," he said. "So far, it's just negotiations."
Chudada said talks have begun with similar leagues in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois – places payers could travel to by car.
And now, to support the need for full, matching uniforms and other equipment, Tomczyk said the league is seeking additional corporate sponsors.
"We don't get a penny for playing," he said. "We just play for the love of the game."
Players are primarily young men who chose not to enroll in college but still seek an outlet on the gridiron, Tomczyk said.
"All players, since we don't get paid, all have jobs," Chudada said. "They work all week, go out on the weekend and play full-contact football, then go back to their jobs on Monday.They are construction workers, office people, police officers, firefighters, businessmen – they come from all types of jobs."
The season opens Aug. 9, with Saturday games starting at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday games kicking off at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Games are played in 20-minute quarters with a continuous clock.
Games are played at W233-S7260 Vernon Lane, Big Bend.
The final game of the season is the Iron Bowl, during which the American Conference winner faces off against the National Conference winners.
The trophy is dedicated to Joe Chudada.
It is in his memory that the league pushes forward.
"We would like to have an Ironman football team in every major city in Wisconsin and, maybe in the future, have teams all over the Midwest," Tomczyk said.
(Steve Louden can be reached at slouden@conleynet.com)