The demands on Teresa Conn's time can be downright overwhelming -- so much so that she wouldn't mind a few clones.

"Sometimes I feel like there needs to be 20 of me," said Conn, the owner and co-head coach of the Pittsburgh Passion, a women's professional football team in its sixth season.

"But being busy means that good things are happening, it means that people are interested."

Those who are interested can get their first, up-close look at the team this year, when the Passion (1-0) opens its home schedule with a game against the Boston Militia (1-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cupples Stadium on the South Side.

The Passion ripped through the host Central Pennsylvania Vipers last week, 55-0. That game proved a case of the Passion picking up right where it left off, as last year -- the squad roared through the schedule unbeaten, with the 12th and final victory a 32-0 win in Nashville against Columbus in the championship game of the National Women's Football Association.

This season, the Passion has shifted from the NWFA to the Independent Women's Football League, a league boasting about 40 teams grouped geographically and by skill level. The Passion plays in the Tier 1 North Atlantic Division, a division made up of the most experienced and highly skilled teams in the Northeast.

The move was a way for the Passion to line up against teams of comparable skill sets, because in last year's run to the title, the Passion often cruised to runaway wins, including the rout in the title game.

"We wanted to give our fans the opportunity to see the most competitive games possible," said Conn, 44, who formerly played five years at free safety for the Passion. "A move to this current league gives them that opportunity."

Make no mistake, the Passion has grown exponentially from the franchise's infancy in 2003, when many figured it would last a year, maybe two, and then fizzle out.

That has been far from the case, as the Passion drew a crowd of 4,700 to one game last year, regularly pushed 2,500 people through the admission gate, and this season struck a deal with FSN Pittsburgh wherein the network will televise all home games.

All that is a tangible measure of the growth in a franchise that Conn views as one of the region's best entertainment values.

"The biggest thing with us is that we try to make it reasonable for people to go to our games," Conn explained. "Adult tickets are just $12 and that is a big advantage now where costs of going to see games seems to be going up everywhere.

"But there is also entertainment that goes along with our games. Whether it is a climbing wall or some sort of other activity, we have been fortunate enough that people have viewed a Pittsburgh Passion game as an experience, not just a football game."

But in the end, what it all shakes down to is football -- and the success of the Passion, at least to some degree, has been Western Pennsylvania's unyielding need for all things football. That thirst is not lost on Conn.

"When you think about this area, you do think about football, but you also think about winning," Conn said.

"People around here love their football, but they also have high standards. If you don't win, they probably aren't going to support you all that much.

"What we have found is that Pittsburgh fans and a product that wins is an incredible combination. To give these fans a winner is very important to us."