Sharks Make History: League’s First Back-to-Back Champions

A year ago, the SW Florida Sharks finished the season as champions. Almost immediately, the plan for 2026 became clear: keep this group together and give them a chance to do it again.

Coach Francisco “Fico” Gomez and the Sharks’ back office went to work, successfully bringing back nearly the entire championship roster. About 95% of the team was set to return, and for a moment, it looked like the Sharks would enter the new season with the same foundation that had carried them to the title.

Then the plan changed.

Before the season began, the Sharks learned that Kristen Bonitto was moving across the nation, Kelsey Kiel was expecting twins, Dana Paran had to return back home for personal reasons, while power duo Sammy Nalley and Nick Shappee were also expecting. With Kristen, Kelsey, Dana, and Sammy unavailable to compete in 2026, the team was forced to quickly restructure the Lady Sharks roster and rethink how races would be built.

That became the theme of the season. Adjust. Find a way. Keep moving.

Once competition began, the Sharks dealt with one challenge after another. Injuries continued to change the roster and eventually forced the coaching staff into something it had rarely needed to do in previous seasons: compete without its full depth.

For a team built around specialists, that was everything.

In previous years, the Sharks could carefully manage volume and put athletes in the positions where they were most effective. This season, players were asked to take races, movements and workloads they normally would not have carried.

Roles expanded. Game plans changed. Players stepped in. But the Sharks never stopped competing.

The regular season ended at 2-2, meaning there would be no shortcut to another championship. If the Sharks wanted the title, the Sharks would have to play three matches in one championship weekend.

The message inside the team remained simple: trust your teammates & take one race at a time.

There was another unexpected wrinkle before the weekend even started. The Sharks had to remove 4 males from their roster due to injuries and life changing events, and signed Joseph Pierro as a mid-season signing.

Coach Fico was originally scheduled to miss the championship event while his son represented the United States in an F1 Bambino competition in Spain. Former Sharks coach Nick Habish stepped in to lead the team in his absence.

As if the season was not full of surprises already, F1 cancelled the event 72 hours before it was scheduled to start. As a result, Fico got on a plane. By the time he arrived, the Sharks were already fighting through the Wild Card match, with Coach Habish guiding the Sharks to a 21-14 victory over the Venom and a spot in the conference final.

One down.

On Sunday, the Sharks faced the Bandits with the championship match waiting on the other side. The Sharks won 21-15, earning the conference title and advancing to face the Lions just a few hours later.

Two down. One more to go.

The championship became everything this season had prepared the Sharks for.

The Sharks and Lions traded races. The Lions came out strong and capitalized early, taking control through the opening portion of the match. The Sharks answered through the middle and worked their way back.

Meanwhile, the roster continued to be tested. David Blatt was dealing with an Achilles injury. Quentin Ambrioso suffered an abdominal injury. Captain Sam Martin was forced out with an abdominal lump after successfully completing his ringer.

Once again, the Sharks had to adjust. And once again, somebody stepped up.

The Lady Sharks carried a tremendous share of the responsibility through the shared elements, while the men absorbed the volume that each race required. It wasn’t one athlete or one race that brought the Sharks back.

It took the entire shiver.

Eventually, after an entire season of adjustments, the championship came down to one final race: the Sprint Relay.

The Sharks won it and with it, the Sharks made history.

The SW Florida Sharks became the first team in league history to win back-to-back championships.

That moment was bigger than one relay or one weekend. It was the result of a season in which almost nothing went exactly according to plan.

The roster changed before competition started. Injuries changed it again during the season. Coaches adjusted. Athletes took on unfamiliar responsibilities. Players competed through pain. Teammates carried extra volume when someone else couldn’t.

Everybody had a piece of it. That is what made this championship special. The Sharks didn’t repeat because everything went perfectly.

They repeated because every time the season asked the team for something different, someone was ready to answer.