A tech consultant watched his daughter play flag football and asked himself a question that would change everything: “Do women even play football?” That question sent Jake Langner down a research rabbit hole, and what he discovered led him and fellow Google veteran Brad Grovich to invest at least $500,000 of their own money into launching the Golden State Storm , the Bay Area’s newest professional women’s sports team.

The Storm isn’t your casual flag football squad. This is 11-on-11, fully padded tackle football. The team will kick off its inaugural season on March 28 at Laney College with 55 players on the roster, competing in the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC), now in its seventh season and considered the premier women’s tackle league in the United States.

The response to the team’s creation has been overwhelming. When Langner and Grovich posted volunteer coaching and executive positions on LinkedIn, they received hundreds of applicants. Quarterback Alyssa Dixon, a 29-year-old from Monterey who’s been playing tackle football since high school, was so excited about the opportunity that she immediately texted her interest. “The moment I found out that there was going to be a team, I was honestly probably the first to send out an ‘I’m interested, I want to play right now’ text”, Dixon said.

What makes the Storm stand out isn’t just the investment or the roster quality , it’s the commitment to expansion. The roster includes athletes from California and across the country, plus five international players. Some hold Ph.D.s, several are mothers, many are former college athletes, and one is a local high school senior. While players and staff currently volunteer their time, the organization is already offering Name, Image, and Likeness deals worth $10,000-$15,000 to select athletes.

Langner sees women’s football at an inflection point. The WNFC’s growth potential is real: three expansion franchises entered since 2024, live games are now streaming on Victory+, and the NCAA has recognized flag football as an Emerging Sport for Women. The pipeline is expanding rapidly as states sanction girls flag football programs and colleges follow suit.

For Langner, the short-term goal isn’t about profits , it’s about breaking even in Year 1 and getting the team into the mainstream conversation. “Five years from now, my biggest hope is that it will become harder and harder to find people that have never heard of this”, he said. The long-term vision is even bolder. If this works, Langner believes women’s football could reach billion-dollar valuations.

The Storm play their first game in two weeks. Whether they’ll become a household name or just another startup remains to be seen, but one thing’s clear: women’s football has officially arrived in the Bay Area.