Madison Blaze Gearing Up for 2020

Late last week, the Madison Blaze made the following announcement:

On behalf of the Madison Blaze, we regret to inform our fans that it is in the team's best interest to take the 2019 season to build. We need more time to build a team to the caliber that is needed to compete while keeping our players safe. We fully anticipate to be ready to play in the 2020 season. Thank you to all of our fans for their support during this time of rebuild.

Like many fans and players, I was surprised and saddened. Recently, at the invitation of Coach Dick Dickson, I had jumped at the chance to cover the team and looked forward to the experience. I have been a big proponent of women's sports and I was ready to add another team to my coverage platform.

At first thought, missing a season is bad. It throws the entire future of the team in doubt. I am here to tell you this is not the case with the Madison Blaze. While everyone from Coach Dick Dickson on down is disappointed the Blaze will not play in 2019, the Blaze are very much alive and actually extremely positive.

In a follow up statement to his team, Coach Dickson stated, “This is a decision that we did not come to lightly - after our first competition clinic and practice last weekend, I made a decision that I felt was in the best interest of the athletes who I have gotten to know and share our vision with - it just doesn't make sense to not build our program the right way, and we simply tolerate a player experience that is less than championship caliber.” Coach Dickson made that statement in a private message to the team, but I felt it spoke volumes and needed to be shared with the public and Coach Dickson agreed.

Coach Dickson could have fielded a team. The Blaze could have played this season. There were plenty of women athletes who wanted to play. There was a quickly growing fan interest (more on that later). Dickson's staff, including former LFL Chicago Bliss Coach Keith Hac (a 4x LFL champion) and LFL all-star Alli Alberts, certainly was ready and had plenty of passion.

With all of those pieces in place, we must trust Coach Dickson's conviction that this is in the best interest of the players and the team's future. Coach Dickson did not make this decision quickly or easily. I know his passion for the team. He reached out to me to cover the team and I agreed, despite being based over 100 miles away from Madison.

When I heard the announcement, I thought back to my first meeting with Coach Hac. It was several years ago when the Bliss were just coming off of a league wide hiatus in the LFL. Coach Hac explained his thought process. He used the off-time to build and strengthen the Bliss. Hac predicted Bliss dominance. His excitement bordered on giddiness.

While I thought he was a bit too optimistic, I soon learned Coach Hac's optimism was a byproduct of hard work. The 4 Bliss titles were earned by working, studying and playing harder than any other team. That all started in the off-year.

Now it came as no surprise that Hac followed Coach Dickson's message with his own message. “The scheduling change shut the LFL down for over a year. The Bliss used this time to reload the roster, focus on creating innovative playbooks and practice, practice, practice. When the league returned in the spring of 2013, the Bliss had emerged from the hiatus as the new power of the LFL. We would go on to appear in five of the next six championships games, win over 90% of our games and claim FOUR championships.
Winning is what we do. I have 100% confidence, with a similar time off now for the Blaze and with the direction Doug has this team on, the Blaze will emerge from this as the new power in the woman’s tackle football.”

To Blaze players and folks unfamiliar with Coach Hac, this might seem like standard positive coach speak, but to anyone who knows Coach Hac, he is stating facts. I know that Coach Hac and Coach Dickson firmly believe the Blaze will be better in 2020 and beyond than had they played this season. Furthermore, I believe this is the first steps in building a championship team.

So where does this leave the Blaze right now? Many of the players already are on other competitive football teams of all sorts or at least involved in some athletic endeavors. They will continue paying there, while still being a part of the Blaze organization. Coach Dickson will continue to work on plays, recruit more players and grow a fanbase.

Speaking of that fanbase, the Blaze has some impressive statistics.

-657,780 new people are connected to the Blaze community
-9,240 of these people have told us they will support our mission
-4,455 new people have followed, shared, and told their friends about the Blaze
-518 athletes connected with the Blaze to get involved
-41 new athletes made the cut for practices and tryouts

Those numbers are the result of doing outreach on social media, emails, promoting through fliers and word of mouth. That all happened in just a few months. Imagine what will happen over the next year or so leading into the 2020 season.

Better yet, imagine what Coach Dickson and his staff will do in that span of time. I guarantee you they will use this time to set the foundation of a perennial contender.

There is one other number I would like to add to the above stats. Add one Chicago-based writer. While I will not be covering games this season, I will be following the Blaze and reporting on developments. This isn't the end of the Blaze. The fun is just beginning. The Blaze team isn't burning down. It's just heating up! Stay tuned.