Area semipro football team enters third season Football team rushes toward third season

RATHDRUM – Koni Raes has placed a woman’s touch on the sport of football.

As owner of the State Line Miners men’s semipro football team, Raes leaves much untouched in this male-dominated world, but her approach to ownership is much more maternal than what you’d find elsewhere.

“I don’t know how to coach football. It’s an area I don’t know,” said Raes, who moved from Spokane to Arizona six months ago but continues an active role with the team. “Sometimes when plays happen, I’m like, ‘What was that?’ and have to have it explained to me like a kindergartner trying to learn.

“When I was in Spokane, I was at every practice. I had really good rapport with the players. If they had an issue with the coach, they would call me directly. I have MySpace, so they’d hit me up on MySpace or e-mail or my cell phone,” Raes said.

“That’s why I still have a 509 area code (on her cell phone) for the players who may not have long distance so they can still call me.”

The history of semiprofessional sports is like an abyss swallowing whole countless failed franchises and organizations.

Part of the Evergreen Football League, the Miners are entering their third season under Raes. Once calling Spokane Valley home, the team plays its home games at Lakeland Middle School in Rathdrum.

Now working on her blossoming real estate career, Raes doesn’t have to rely on her football team to pay her mortgage. It’s a good thing, too.

“Concessions and tickets,” Raes said when asked what the team has for primary sources of revenue. “Everything else is out of pocket. The players buy their own helmets and buy pads. I buy jerseys. I buy a specific jersey and specific pants. If they don’t like the pants, they have to buy their own.

“Luckily, we don’t have to pay for practice fields but only the game field, which is great. The concession (sales) cover the football field, and the ticket (sales) cover the referees. We get by every year.”

A quick look at State Line’s 47-player roster offers quick evidence the Evergreen Football League is no recreational beer league, and Raes detests any comparison to flag football.

Eleven players played ball at Whitworth College. Several others played collegiately in Montana and California. Former Washington State University quarterback Tali Ena plays for the Tri-Cities club, and Miners head coach Jim Nendel said there are a number of standout players throughout the league.

Nendel was an assistant coach working with defensive backs and special teams at Whitworth for 10 years and also coached semipro football in Europe.

He said the semipro environment is different from what you’d expect in a collegiate or professional setting.

“We have guys who have to work, and we have to work around their schedules and families, so it’s demanding a lot of their time,” Nendel said. “We have to be flexible.”

Nendel added that the team doesn’t serve only as a means for an athlete to continue to play football beyond high school or college. There’s a benefit that extends off the field.

“You get a wide variety of ability levels,” Nendel said. “It’s fun to be able to challenge those guys who have great ability levels and also help them teach younger guys who aren’t quite there. It puts (the experienced players) in a little different position than just playing. We’re building leaders.

“What we wanted to do was build more of a community – time to get together, build social relationships, be focused on more than just football but also build friendships with one another.”