Women's American football
Encyclopedia
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. Most leagues play by the same rules as their male counterparts, with one exception: women's leagues use a slightly smaller football. Women primarily play on a semi-professional
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
or amateur level in the United States. Very few high schools or colleges offer the sport solely for women and girls; however, on occasion, it is permissible for a female player to join the regular male team.
United States
- Independent Women's Football LeagueIndependent Women's Football LeagueThe Independent Women's Football League was founded in 2000, and began play in 2001.IWFL founders began with the goal to establish a quality women's football league that would be respected as the top level of women's tackle football in the world....
(IWFL) - Women's Football AllianceWomen's Football AllianceThe Women's Football Alliance is a full-contact Women's American football league which began play in the spring of 2009. They have now completed three full seasons and grew to over 60 teams slated for the 2011 season. The women play 11 person tackle football games with rules that basically mirror...
(WFA) - Women's Spring Football LeagueWomen's Spring Football LeagueThe Women's Spring Football League is a full contact Women's American football league which began play in 2010. Five teams played the WSFL's 2010 exhibition schedule, with twelve more joining for their first full season in 2011, and five more for 2012. Three of the league's original 5 have since...
(WSFL)
Canada
- Maritime Women's Football LeagueMaritime Women's Football LeagueThe Maritime Women's Football League is Canada's first all female full contact football league, originated in 2004, since then the league has grown from 2 to 4 teams from the 3 major cities of New Brunswick and a team from Halifax, Nova Scotia.-Current teams:*Capital Area Lady Gladiators...
(MWFL) - Western Women's Canadian Football League (WWCFL)
Disbanded or moribund
- Women's American Football LeagueWomen's American Football LeagueThe Women's American Football League was a women's football league that was formed in 2001. After disbanding, the teams merged with the Women's Affiliated Football Conference , the Independent Women's Football League and the American Football Women's League , itself now disbanded.-Teams:*Arizona...
(WAFL) 2001 - Women's Affiliate Football Conference (WAFC) 2002
- United Women's Football League (UWFL) 2002
- Women's Spring Football LeagueWomen's Spring Football LeagueThe Women's Spring Football League is a full contact Women's American football league which began play in 2010. Five teams played the WSFL's 2010 exhibition schedule, with twelve more joining for their first full season in 2011, and five more for 2012. Three of the league's original 5 have since...
(WSFL) - American Football Women's LeagueAmerican Football Women's LeagueThe American Football Women's League which debuted on May 15, 2002, was one of the first women's football leagues formed, originally using the name WAFL, or Women's American Football League in 2001...
(AFWL) 2003 - Women's Football Association (WFA) 2003
- Ladies Tackle Football League (LTFL) (Central California, disbanded circa 2004?)
- Women's Football LeagueWomen's Football LeagueThe Women's Football League was a small women's American football team that began playing in 2002. Its last season was in 2007. It was composed of three teams, one in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one in Tennessee, and one in North Carolina, the Jacksonville Dixie Blues, who now play in the Women's...
(WFL) (Southern U.S., moribund) - Women's Professional Football LeagueWomen's Professional Football LeagueThe Women's Professional Football League is the original and longest operating women's professional American football league in the United States. Now with teams across the United States, the WPFL had its first game in 1999 with just two original teams: the Lake Michigan Minx and the Minnesota...
(WPFL) (nationwide, moribund) - National Women's Football AssociationNational Women's Football AssociationThe National Women's Football Association was a full-contact American football league for women headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the Alabama Renegades and the Nashville Dream played each other six times in...
(NWFA) (nationwide, und)
There was also a league in the 1970s called the National Women's Football League, not be confused with the NWFA (which also went by that name but changed due to pressure from the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
).
Lingerie Football League
Women's american football should not be confused with the Lingerie Football LeagueLingerie Football League
The Lingerie Football League is a women's 7-on-7 tackle American football league, created in 2009, with games played in the fall and winter at NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS arenas and stadiums. The league was founded by Mitch Mortaza...
. The Lingerie Football League is an organization based on sex appeal, because of the nontraditional, revealing uniforms and partial selection of roster by physical appearance. It also plays under a modified indoor football format with a reduced-size field, so that it can be played in smaller venues and so that heavier linemen are not needed. (Despite the heavy use of sex appeal, the league does play legitimate football, and most of the league's players have previous athletic experience; former NFL players have coached LFL teams.)
Women in college and professional football
Of the women who have seen action in men's college and pro football, almost all have been in special teams positions that require negligible physical contact. The first professional player was a placekick holderHolder (American football)
In American football the holder is the player who receives the snap during field goal and extra point attempts made by place kick. The holder is usually positioned between seven and eight yards behind the line of scrimmage. The holder kneels down and places the hand farthest from the line of...
(a traditionally trivial position usually occupied by a person who holds another position on the team), while the three best known female college football players were all placekicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
s, with all having primarily played women's soccer prior to converting.
Patricia Palinkas
Patricia Palinkas
Patricia "Pat" Palinkas is credited as the first and, until Katie Hnida signed with the Fort Wayne Firehawks in 2010, only woman to play American football professionally. She was a placekick holder for her husband Steven Palinkas for the minor league Orlando Panthers in the Atlantic Coast...
is on record as being the first female professional football player, having played for the Orlando Panthers of the Atlantic Coast Football League
Atlantic Coast Football League
The Atlantic Coast Football League was a minor football league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with NFL and AFL teams to serve as farm clubs. The league paid a base salary of $100 per game and had 36 players on each active roster.For the...
in 1970. Palinkas was a placekick holder for her placekicker husband.
On October 18, 1997, Liz Heaston
Liz Heaston
Elizabeth "Liz" Heaston Thompson is an American athlete who is the first woman ever to score in a college football game. She accomplished this feat on October 18, 1997 as a placekicker for the Willamette University Bearcats, which was competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate...
became the first woman to play and score in a college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game
1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game
The 1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game was a college football game between the and the played on October 18, 1997. The game was played at McCulloch Stadium in Salem, Oregon. Willamette won the game by a score of 27 to 0...
, kicking two extra points. Prior to this game, female athletes at Duke
Duke Blue Devils football
The Duke Blue Devils football program is a college football team that represents Duke University . The team is currently a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference , which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Blue Devils compete in the Coastal...
and Louisville
Louisville Cardinals football
The Louisville Cardinals football team represents the University of Louisville in college football as a member of the Big East Conference. Howard Schnellenberger started the program's rise to relevancy after winning the Miami Hurricanes' first national championship...
had come close to playing in a game but did not. In 2001, Ashley Martin
Ashley Martin
Ashley Martin is an American athlete who became the first woman to play and score in an NCAA Division I American football game, and one of the first ever to score points in any college football game. She accomplished this feat August 30, 2001 as a placekicker for the Jacksonville State University...
became the second female athlete to score in a college football game
2001 Cumberland vs. Jacksonville State football game
The 2001 Cumberland vs. Jacksonville Staate football game was a college football game between the and the played on August 30, 2001. The game was played at Burgess-Snow Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama. Jacksonville State won the game by a score of 72 to 10...
, this time in the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
. In 2003, Katie Hnida
Katie Hnida
Katharine Anne "Katie" Hnida is an American football player who became the first woman to score in an NCAA Division I-A game, college football's highest level...
became the first female athlete to score in a Division I-A bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
; she later became the second professional player when she signed with the Fort Wayne FireHawks
Fort Wayne Firehawks
The Fort Wayne FireHawks are an indoor football team affiliated with the Continental Indoor Football League. Based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the FireHawks play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum....
.
International Competition
The world governing body for American football associations, the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), held the first ever Women's World CupIFAF Women's World Championship
The IFAF Women's World Championship is the international championship for women in American football. The first event was held in 2010, in Stockholm, Sweden, and was won by the United States.-Results:...
in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2010. Six nations participated in the inaugural event: Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and the United States. The United States won the gold by beating Canada, 66-0. The next World Cup will be held in 2013.
See also
- List of female American football players
- Powderpuff (sports)
- Women's rugby unionWomen's rugby unionWomen's rugby union is a sport identical to the men's game with the same rules, same sized pitch, and same equipment. However, it has a history which is significantly different, due to various social pressures, and the self-image of rugby union in general...
, which has been affected by similar issues.