Thursday, April 22, 2010

A HUGE thank you to the towns of Martensdale and St. Mary's

Many of you have probably heard of Martensdale-St. Mary's but probably have never been. This community south of West Des Moines off of exit 56 is absolutely amazing. They have welcomed the Iowa Thunder into their communities and have made us feel like a part of them. Last night we held our normal Wednesday evening practice. a journalist from the Indianola Tribune came out to take pictures and talk with staff/players. It is so nice to feel involved and having people take notice. Our season home opener is this Saturday, April 24th at 5:00 PM. I cannot wait to see everyone out there ready to support not only the Iowa Thunder but Martensdale-St. Mary's as well.

Here is a copy of the article. It can also be found on-line: http://indianolarecordherald.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100422/INDIANOLA01/100420028&GID=RDS4qH3NS4oQqGfh3yodDOPlRpEj7SfMdfLBTdVCegY%3D

Women's football thunders into Warren County
Women’s full-tackle football is coming to Martensdale.Officials with the Iowa Thunder women’s football team said the team will play its home games at the new Martensdale-St. Marys Community School District athletic stadium in 2010. The first home game is at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 24.The Thunder played their first season last year at Johnston High School. William Grimes, head coach and founder, said he moved the team partly because of facility costs, but also because they didn’t feel a lot of support from the Des Moines area community.“We are extremely excited about the opportunity to play at Martensdale,” Grimes said in an announcement this week. “...We are already seeing a huge amount of excitement from the cities of Martensdale and St. Marys and we have always wanted to find a location that would take us in and make us part of the local community.”The Iowa Thunder have four home games scheduled this year. Team officials are offering free season passes at the April 24 game for anyone who has family or children attending Martensdale-St. Marys Community School District. They also play May 1, May 15 and June 5. All games have a 5 p.m. kickoff. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children ages 13 to 18, and free for children 12 and under. This season, residents of Indianola, Norwalk and other surrounding cities can get two-for-one tickets, said Grimes.“It’s kind of to get everybody coming out, and once they see what we’re about we’ll go from there,” Grimes said.The Thunder’s roster includes two players from Indianola and one player from Martensdale. The team’s offensive line coach and two physical trainers are also from Martensdale.Martensdale school officials are excited to draw players and fans to their new 750-seat venue, said Jean Peterson, superintendent.“We were hoping to have more outside people take a look at our school district, and then maybe have a favorable impression of us and have their kids start coming here,” Peterson said. “We thought, the more we could do to promote our school district (the better.)”
Grimes said he hopes to pack many more than 750 people into the stadium. He hopes they’ll be standing along the sidelines and bringing their own chairs with them. Two of the four games at Johnston drew 1,000 spectators, another drew about 800 people and the fourth game - in heavy rain - brought about 350 people, he said.The field agreement between Martensdale schools and the Iowa Thunder has the team paying $400 per game for four home games. They also contribute 30 percent of concession revenues to the district. The team can practice twice a week on the field at no cost, Peterson said.The agreement also includes a three-year renewable option. Peterson said school board members wanted to see how things go the first year before deciding on additional years.The Thunder are part of the Midwest Division of the Women’s Football Alliance. The other teams are the Minnesota Machine, the Kansas City Spartans and the Nebraska Stampede, according to the alliance’s Web site, www.wfafootball.com.


~We hope to make ALL of you proud!

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