Corvallis, Redding find ways to play together despite close to 360 miles of separation

By Kevin Hampton

Gazette-Times reporter

Beth Buglione knew the Corvallis Pride roster was going to be short several players for this season.

A few players decided to retire after years on the Independent Women's Football League team. Others wanted to play but did not have insurance after losing their jobs due to the economic downturn.

Buglione, the Pride owner/coach, was left with about 15 players. She gave the IWFL office a call and let them know that the team was too short in numbers to play safely.

The league told Buglione that the Redding Rage was also struggling with low numbers and the teams might be able to work out a merger.

"They said why don't you talk to Redding and I thought, 'Redding? That's 370 miles away,' " Buglione said.

Buglione decided to get in touch with Rage owner/coach Jack Fife, who was at a coaches clinic in Reno when she called.

"She called and said she had some low numbers this year and we did also, so she asked if I'd be interested in combining the team for the year and we were," Fife said. "So we did and we've been traveling ever since."

The season has been one big road trip.

The team, which is officially called the Corvallis Pride, splits time between Corvallis and Redding for practice.

"It's a disadvantage to us, but it's a definite testament to these women and how badly they want to play this game," Buglione said. "Other teams drive 10 miles to practice and we drive 370 miles. So it just speaks to the heart of both of these teams."

One weekend the seven Redding players and their personnel make the six-hour drive up, usually on a Friday night, practice on Saturday and Sunday, and head back in time to get plenty of sleep before Monday rolls around. Both groups of players car pool to practice.

All home games are played at Corvallis High, however, so Redding gets the bulk of the road time.

"That's a challenge," Barbara Webb of Redding, who is one of four team captains, said of the travel time. "It pretty much is a commitment to take up your weekends for the whole summer. But our alternative was to not have a season, so for us it's worth it."

The team uses the Internet to alleviate some of the practice problem. For Wednesday chalk talks, the Redding players watch Buglione on computer screens.

"We have the internet camera and so they're able to listen to Beth there in chalk talk and we'll go over all the plays and watch film and they'll just be in Redding together and we'll be here in Corvallis together," Marrei Medina of Turner said. "So that way we can hear what they have to say and they can hear what's going on here at our chalk talk. It seems to work pretty well."

Even with the travel issue sorted out, some teams might not be able to merge with others. Conflicts between coaches could arise, some players might be slow to catch on to a new system and egos might get in the way.

For the most part it's been smooth sailing for the Pride.

The teams were friendly rivals when they played each other. Webb said she was excited about the prospect of playing with the Pride.

"Corvallis has always been an incredible team to play and we've competed against them so many years, but they've been a very honorable team and as far as combining, it was the kind of program that we'd want to be involved in," she said. "It's a great opportunity for us to learn from new coaches, new philosophies, new theories about football outside of what we've gotten from our own coaches and hopefully build both programs a lot stronger."

While Buglione has taken over the coaching duties and works the sideline during the game, Fife works from the press box.

It's a position he's had experience with, although he admits the sideline tends to be where the action takes place.

"I watch our team and the opposing team and see what advice I can give the coaches on the sideline," he said. "I'm used to being on the sidelines. I've been in the booth before on other teams that I've coached. I enjoy both. I just enjoy being a part of it. Of course, it's more exciting on the sidelines, but I enjoy the whole thing."

Fife ran a similar system to the Pride's, so it was easier for the Rage players to make the adjustment.

"Luckily, the people we brought from Redding are long-term veterans, so we've been playing football for a long time and we are able to learn the offense really quickly because our offenses weren't that different to begin with," Webb said.

"I think everybody's committed to making it work. We don't have a lot of time together except for the weekends, so we've all just kind of dug in and made it work."