TIGARD — On a cool, late-summer evening, coach Lyn Lumley held tryouts for his start-up football squad.

Eight eager participants showed up to the audition, eagerly running through drills typical of the NFL combine — sit-ups, pushups, sprints, strength and balance tests, long runs.

The atmosphere was jovial, coaches encouraging, players energetic.

But as the coaching staff’s shirts said, football isn’t just for boys.

Lumley is starting a women’s tackle football team, the Portland Fighting Fillies.

The Fillies will be part of the Women’s Football Alliance, a league that already boasts 38 teams across the country. The league, also in its infancy, played its inaugural season this last spring. The Fighting Fillies will play in the 2010 season that runs from April to July.

“If you love football and you miss it in the spring, this is the place to be,” said tryout participant Wendi Kali. “It’s still hard-hitting; it’s still real football. A lot of football fanatics, myself included, just can’t get enough of the game. So when it ends in the winter, we want more.”

Lumley, who headed the Willamina High School football program for three years and the Gaston program for two, has a coaching staff of five with more than 100 combined years of coaching experience.

The Fillies are the second full-contact women’s football team in the Portland area. The Portland Shockwave, part of the Independent Women’s Football League, debuted in 2001. Kali, a 39-year-old accountant, played for the Shockwave last season. She decided to make the switch over to the Fillies.

“I wanted a little more,” Kali said. “Last year, we didn’t play a whole lot of teams because there aren’t a whole lot of teams in our area. And I was hoping for more playing time. I know I’m older, but I think I was improving and I just want to be out on the field ... So I’m just excited to be out here and be able to play full-contact football.”

The Shockwave played only three teams last season, against Seattle, Corvallis and Oakland. The Fillies, on the other hand, have a 12-game schedule that includes road trips to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles. Their six home games will be played at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.

Lumley held two tryouts in September, one in Forest Grove and another in Tigard. Official practices start Sunday and will be held every week until February. And since players aren’t solely from Portland, Lumely said he will hold his practices all over the area, each week working in a different town, with plans to hit McMinnville, Newberg, Tigard and others.

“I didn’t realize how big it has become,” Lumley said of women’s football. “They’re fast, they can hit, they execute well. They listen and they really want to learn the game.”

This early in the team-building process, Lumley isn’t sure who will play what position quite yet.

“Obviously, you know you need some speed to run the ball and catch the ball,” he said. “When we actually start getting out here working out, then we’ll start actually looking at what they can play.”

Lisa Elliott, originally from McMinnville, has played tackle football for four years, all with the Shockwave. The 28-year-old said the novelty of helping a new team start up is what drew her over to the Fillies.

“I just kind of want to help a new team start up, have another circle of friends and just some other experiences,” she said.

“I love the battle, the strength, the getting down and just getting to it. Whoever’s stronger and wins, that’s my kind of game.”

Elliott falls in the average age range of women interested in the Fillies. Lumley said most who have shown up at the tryouts are between 25 and 30. But there are a few older women who are showing interest.

Karla Fisher, 46, of Gaston, found out about the tryout the day of, and couldn’t be happier about her luck. Fisher said she went out for football in junior high, only to be laughed at. And in high school they threw her off the team because she was a girl, she said. So getting the chance to finally play tackle football is a thrill, she said.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. This is like the best day of my life.

“I love the fact that I’m trail blazing something ... potentially opening up the possibilities for young women, to actually have football just be a normal thing. Because it’s a healthy, good thing to do.”

Whitney Thomas, on the other hand, falls on the younger side of the Fillies’ age spectrum. The 21-year-old recently moved to Portland. She ran across advertisements for team a few days before tryouts and thought joining the team would be something unique and exciting to add to her repertoire.

“I’ve never played tackle football before,” Thomas said. “I’m a fan of football. I don’t know all the rules, but I am ready to tackle some people and just get down and have fun and meet a bunch of new people. This is awesome.”

For someone who doesn’t have any prior football experience, Thomas isn’t sure what to expect. But she does hope her speed will set her apart.

“A lot of them are bigger than me, but once I build my strength, I can hold my own,” she said. “And I can outrun them, and that’s what I’m banking on. I’m just going to outrun them. That’s just about all that’s going to keep me alive.”

For now, Lumley’s biggest objective is to fill up his roster.

“I’m pretty excited about it. It looks like we have about 24 right now and if I can break off at 30, I’d be happy,” Lumley said. “That way I can really teach them the game.”

Aside from a few press releases, Lumley’s main recruitment tool for players has been ads on Cragislist. And, while official practices are just days away, he is still looking for women interested in joining.

“I’m just trying to get as much publicity as we can just to let them know we’re out here,” he said. “This is the fastest growing women’s sport out there and no one knows about it. That’s what’s amazing.”

For more information on the Fighting Fillies, coach Lyn Lumley can be reached at (503) 352-9255 or at fightingfillies@yahoo.com.