About The Team

The 2007 season should be both interesting and exciting. Taking into account experience, size, and speed, Vermont's premier semi-pro team should be something of which the whole state can be proud. A pre-season contest with a brand new team, the Vermont Ravens, should prove an interesting test for the team early on. And the Empire Football League schedule should, once again, prove challenging.

Re-organized into a two Conference, 8 team “AAA” level league, the EFL continues to be (after more than 30 years of operation) one of the most prestigious leagues among all of America’s 600 semi-professional football teams. So 2007 brings a chance for the Ice Storm to play at the highest level of amateur football. The Empire league is fiercely competitive and features many football teams with strong and proud traditions. Along the way, the Storm will compete against the Watertown Red and Black, the oldest semi-pro football team in America. Watertown, back more than 100 years ago, was the first city in America to reimburse its players. Thus, it is enshrined in Canton, Ohio, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as the first “Professional Football team in history.”

There's an old saying that warriors must go into battle filled with both fear and audacity. If they have no fear, then they will be careless and make mistakes that would not happen if the adrenaline is flowing. On other hand, if they are not audacious, proud, and cocky, they will not survive due to lapses that come from being too timid.

And so it is with football. In this, the team's seventh season of play, the Vermont Ice Storm certainly possesses both fear and audacity going for it when it takes the field. Since we will be competing a league that regularly offers up nationally top ranked teams, there is the fear of the unknown. The fear of “failure,” that should always haunt the true competitor.

Equally though, the team is cocky and confident because of the wealth of experience both on the field and in the coaching ranks. The coaching staff has a combined total of over 50 years of coaching behind it. The bulk of the team roster is made up of men who have played semi-pro football before. These players have always been successful. In our six year history, the team has never missed the playoffs and won a Championship in 2002. Each and every player knows what it takes to win and is confident their teammates will do “whatever it takes” to get the job done.

Then too, the team has recruited a number of new players who, while new to semi-pro football, have played at the college level and or been standouts in their local high school programs. Taken together, this experience should help the team prepare for the challenges which lie ahead.

The offense runs an offshoot of the "West Coast" offense, wherein the short, ball possession oriented passing game is used to set up and be complimentary to the running game. This type of offense was brought to prominence in the 1980’s and 1990’s by the legendary Bill Walsh and has been adapted by a good portion of today’s NFL offensive coordinators.

The offense is lead by one of the best quarterbacks at this level of football. Combine this with a talented set of running backs, very good receivers – one of the best in the country, and an experienced offensive line that is almost NFL sized and the fans should expect to see some scoring.

The defense is one that attacks all the time. The Ice Storm defense does a lot of stunting and "brings everyone" much of the time. Some quick and talented defensive backs work behind a linebacker corps that averages 8 years of semi-pro experience per man. The down linemen are large and numerous. The philosophy of the Ice Storm's defense is that to wait for the offense to act is to be behind the eight ball - attack, always attack, and you will control the tempo of the game.

In summation, fans will enjoy great football in 2007. See you at the games!!!!