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A Short History of Women's Football
- camgoode
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Women's History Month is this month, and with it on the horizon, it's got me thinking about the value of where you've come from, and part of this has got me really curious as well about where this sport that so many of us value got its roots from. So to both appreciate what we have now and to learn lessons for the future, let's go back a bit to the origins of Women's Tackle Football.
From as far back as the inception of gridiron football, in some capacity, women have taken up the sport even in its most infant stages. In 1892, wanting to get in on this brand-new sport that only men had played so far, the girls at the Philadelphia School of Design took to the fields around the school, using their own modified rulesets to play amongst themselves. A tradition that, further in the 1890s, many other schools and universities would begin to replicate.
While it is clear that these early beginnings of the sports were merely informal, with no structure or clear outline of a league or team, it shows that there had always been a desire to play the game among women, regardless of whether it was uncommon or even against social norms at the time.
This passion that, unfortunately, began to be noticed and used as a novelty for entertainment and enjoyment, rather than being taken seriously as a sporting event on the same level as the men's version of the sport.
In the 1890s, a men's club hosted a gridiron event where two women's teams played off against each other, leading to staggering numbers of male viewership wishing to spectate what they deemed as nothing more than passing entertainment. But what they thought would be a light and gentle game of football, something that was everything but the sport in name, they happened to see a fire and passion that went far beyond. A full aggression, full contact, no-holds-barred game that even had the authorities on edge.
Soon enough, large hordes of people had to come and see the game before it was eventually shut down, but this event would start a spark that would inspire many imitators to try and capitalize on this little "show". However, all of these imitators would never be able to understand, let alone recreate, that spark, and so for nearly 40 years the sport of women's football would exist in this state, as nothing more than a sideshow and a novelty.
In 1939, it was decided that California would host its first full-contact game of women's football, complete with NFL rules, regulation clothes and gear, and 12-minute quarters. The media was quick to catch on, sparking a game that soon enough would become a nationwide sensation. It showed that everyday women could play a sport as aggressive and violent, and challenged norms.
From here on, it was where women's football really began to take off, as schools decided to establish their own clubs and teams, and amateur leagues attempted to form in their early stages. From this, eventually, the first professional league of all women football players would form from unlikely origins, as the NWFL in 1974. In the changing times of the 70s, the women in the league were making a name for themselves, creating a place for themselves, and proving that people of all orientations and backgrounds could play this sport.
The NWFL would provide a place where teams could rise as stars, new rivalries could form, and the best of the best would go at it head-to-head, where they never had a place to before. While the NWFL was by no means free from the exploitation that had haunted the sport up until this point, it served as a key time and point that normalized the sport across the country.
While the NWFL wouldn't last, the legacy it raised did, and into the 21st century, several different leagues would take its place, swearing to do better both to the game and its players, including, but not least of all, the AWFL.
So remember to appreciate those who came before as we celebrate history, and how Tigers of all shapes and sizes can carry that legacy.
Go Tigers.
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