Brothers on a mission for women’s sport, opportunities

BUFFALO, N.Y. — In a short time, a professional women’s soccer team from Western New York has made a lasting impact on the community. But what future for this sport?

“It’s so huge in the South. It’s huge,” said Jeronica Davis, co-founder of Buffalo Yetis. “So we wanted to talk about it here and wow Buffalo.”

He and his brother Julius are pursuing the dream of bringing a professional football team to Buffalo.

“It was a no-brainer for us to have girls,” Jeronica added. “My daughter is 16. My niece is 3. This gives them this opportunity. Now the door is open for them.”

The world of professional women’s sport is experiencing new progress every day.

“I wanted to give it away to give her the opportunity to play,” Julius said of his daughter.

It helps that there is momentum with the recognition of flag football in high school programs across the state.

“Football is 90% mental, 10% physical. So I believe that flag football allows you to learn football techniques,” noted Julius. “It prepares you for what it takes to become a great athlete in professional football.”

Julius and Jeronica are fully invested in giving the ladies of Western New York a professional team to aspire to, but there are still many obstacles to overcome when it comes to fundraising and league affiliation for the Yetis are operational, catching and kicking.

“That’s what it takes, you know, I mean, we could sit here and just send emails and wait for someone to respond to us, but that’s not going to work,” Jeronica said. “If the (Buffalo) Bills played here and I played for the Bills, one day you would give me that familiarity.”

For now, the brothers say there is more than enough initial interest from potential players and, more importantly, the women’s staff which will include coaches, training staff and medical staff . This comes as Buffalo reflects on the Buffalo All-Stars team of the 1970s.

“It’s actually going to encourage a lot of women,” he said. “Because the fact that it was here before, you know, we could build off of that.”

“The more teams there are, the more competition there is. I want to get to the level where the WNBA is,” Jeronica said. “One day, I hope we can get to that point. You know, I mean, it seemed like it was moving in that direction.”

The Davis brothers are currently working to secure funding and municipal assistance.