Chicago’s John Konecki Chosen as Head Coach of America’s First Women’s National Team in Football
USA Football, the sport’s national governing body on youth and amateur levels, announced today that Chicago-area native JOHN KONECKI will serve as the head coach of USA Football’s 2010 Women’s National Team which will compete in the sport’s first women’s world championship this summer in Sweden.
USA Football’s 2010 Women’s National Team will represent the United States among a six-nation field competing for the inaugural International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Women’s World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 27-July 3. IFAF is composed of 57 member nations on five continents with national federations dedicated solely to football. USA Football’s team will be assembled and managed in partnership with the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL), which enters its 10th season next month and consists of more than 1,800 female athletes across 51 teams.
Konecki, a native of Evergreen Park, Ill., is an accomplished coaching veteran within the IWFL and high school football. The head coach of the IWFL’s Chicago Force and the architect of its prolific offense, Konecki was named to the league’s 2009 Western Conference All-Star Team coaching staff while eight of his offensive players were named to the roster. An alumnus of Eastern Illinois University and Chicago’s Brother Rice High School, Konecki also serves as the offensive coordinator of Crete-Monee High School in Crete, Ill., 35 miles south of Chicago, where he helped the Warriors earn a 10-2 record in 2009 to advance to the Class 6A Illinois High School Football Playoffs. Crete-Monee scored 435 points last season, a 36.3-point per game average. The Schererville, Ind., resident is an administrator at the high school, supervising its Fine Arts, Physical Education and Social Science departments, respectively.
USA Football’s 2010 Women’s National Team Coaching Staff:
| COACH | POSITION | EXPERIENCE |
| John Konecki | Head Coach & Offensive Coordinator | Chicago Force (IWFL) & Crete-Monee (Ill.) H.S. |
| Jennifer Huston | Wide Receivers | Sacramento Sirens (IWFL) |
| Mark McLaughlin | Special Teams Coordinator & Defensive Backs | Wisconsin Warriors (IWFL) |
| Courtney Porter | Quarterbacks | Kansas City Tribe (IWFL) |
| Anthony Stone | Defensive Coordinator, Def. Line & Linebackers | Chicago Force (IWFL) |
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to represent the United States and to lead our country’s first women’s national team in football,” Konecki said. “This sport is played on a high level beyond our borders; we’ll be prepared to compete with the best national teams in the world. This tournament is exciting for the game and for female athletes throughout the United States.”
“We are pleased to have Coach Konecki and his staff lead our Women’s National Team in this historic tournament,” said USA Football Executive Director SCOTT HALLENBECK. “Stockholm represents an exciting ‘first’ for the sport’s continued international popularity and it will be a tremendous experience for our players and coaches to represent the United States in America’s favorite game.”
USA Football’s Women’s National Team roster will be determined and announced early this spring. USA Football’s national teams are supported by corporate partners Riddell, Shock Doctor, Gatorade and the Andrews Institute.
Seeding for the six nations that will send their 45-player women’s national teams to Scandinavia was determined based on the number of female football participants in each country established by data recorded in the 2009 IFAF Benchmarking Study:
| SEED | COUNTRY |
| 1. | United States |
| 2. | Canada |
| 3. | Germany |
| 4. | Austria |
| 5. | Finland |
| 6. | Sweden |
The six-country tournament field will compete at the Zinkensdamms IP Stadium in Stockholm in the following groups:
| GROUP A | | GROUP B |
| United States | | Canada |
| Austria | | Germany |
| Finland | | Sweden |
2010 IFAF Women’s World Championship schedule
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Teams arrive
Sunday, June 27, 2010
USA vs. Austria
Sweden vs. Canada
Monday, June 28
Rest day / Teams inactive on previous day have option to arrive
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Finland vs. Austria
Germany vs. Sweden
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Canada vs. Germany
USA vs. Finland
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Fifth Place game
Bronze Medal game
Gold Medal game
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