Less than two weeks before the scheduled start of the 1989 season, Mehl and Warehime pulled the then-called Puget Sound Sharks out of the league because of insurance problems. The Sharks had trouble meeting the insurance qualifications required for the use of Kent's French Field, and other teams in the league were reluctant to even pursue such coverage for participants and spectators, said Mehl, who had been named president of the NWFL.

The Sharks had raised $6,500 in cash and $8,500 in tradeouts from sponsors and boosters. Nearly all was returned.

Mehl and Warehime went back and decided not only to develop a football team, but a football league with a minimum of four and maximum of six teams. They insist the interest is there.

``Everything we promoted last year was accepted with open arms,'' Mehl said.

He is in the process of lining up appropriate insurance coverage and hopes to have cooperative agreements with the City of Kent and Kent School District that would enable the Sharks to use French Field and to recruit upcoming high school graduates not immediately able to play college football.

Last year's team drew players from throughout South King County, but this year the Sharks are zeroing in on Kent for a better community identity. Plus, that leaves the door open for other Seattle-area communities to field teams.

The ADFL never made it off the ground and the Sharks never played a game.