HISTORY OF WOMEN'S AND GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL
THE BEGINNING OF WOMEN'S FLAG-FOOTBALL
when did it all begin?
By: Diane Beruldsen
It's difficult to measure, because until recently, there had never been a central women's flag-football office or organization, such as the International Women's Flag-Football Association (IWFFA), to record information on Women Flag-Football (WFF) players.
Women have been playing against other teams, in local leagues, on weekends for recreational reasons or to just hang-out with their friends and socialize. They have just been "doing it". However, to try and put this into a historical perspective we need to be open minded. We need to sift and sort and try to figure out for ourselves how WFF came about and when did it actually start. And it started long ago.
Let's go back to ancient civilizations such as the Chinese, who in 3000 BC, are believed to have played some version of football and thus invented the game. The Egyptians in their hieroglyphics showed some form of a contact game. Later on the Greeks played a sport very much like football which was actually recorded by Pythagoras and Pericles*. In the Spartan society, the people were very war like. They liked combat and sports which offered much contact and strength. Spartans actually allowed and encouraged their women to compete in sports. Could this have been the beginning of women's flag-football?
The Romans would take over soon after the Greeks, and physically covered much territory. With that were soldiers who played their version of football, thus exposing the game to many other countries, who played this game with their own set of rules.
Something happened after the birth of Christ (BC) .... it marked the beginning of time (literally) so that dates, time of year could be recorded (including history). It also was the dawning of religious influence over human behavior in many societies. Men were to act as men, and women were to act like women (personally I think it was a time when men used this ploy to control the second (or first) species of homosapiens. Gender behavior was truly separated (the women fell for it or were forced to fall for it).
So, the men are playing the game, which was O.K., but the women, socially, were not O.K. to play. Men were developing the skills for the game... the women were not.
Let's get a bit more modern:
Flag-football... it's parent: Football, was played in America (brought from England with it's game of rugby) with the early settlers. During the 1800's, it was played in various ways (of course) because there were no set standard rules and again, no central office or association to record it's true beginnings. However, it was in November of 1869, that the first recorded football game (the game we know today) which was played between Princeton and Rutgers Universities. They played with 15 players and the game was very rough. The game continued in growth and popularity until the turn of the century when the game became so dangerous that players were almost killed (actually there was one death recorded). In 1906, Teddy Roosevelt, called a conference in the White House to make the game safe. Rules were created to guide behaviors and actions to protect the players. Teddy saved the game from being thrown out of the schools and thus, saved the game.
Now... let's think about this. If the men, in any society, were playing some version of football ... do you think some women could have been playing on the sneak or using their "feminine version" ?... the beginning of flag-football?
I believe so. I believe that as long as there have been sports and games, natural born athletes, whether male or female, would most likely take upon them with great enthusiasm regardless of what society dictated. Natural athletes need to move their bodies just as the artist needs to create, a poet needs to write, an actor needs to perform, etc. An expression of one's natural talent to be displayed for self-recognition.
But so much for hypothetical rationalizing, for we do know when the sport itself: flag-football came to be.
Back in 1953, a Physical Education teacher by the name of Porter Wilson, was having difficulty with the intensity of his students as they played another version of football: "touch football". There was still contact as the defender "touched" the ball carrier and lot's of times it was too rough. So, Porter needed to keep the excitement in the game, yet take away it's roughness. He took much of the contact out of the game by imposing some sort of devise in which the defenders could reach and grab for without really touching the ball carrier.
You see, it was important to keep the war like aspect of the game involved, because it challenged the offensive team (and we live in a war like society who thrives on that kind of stuff). So, in actuality, the defender was taking " a piece" of the ball carrier's "territory" by taking something that belonged to the other person (we've been playing this game ever since life came to be). At first, Porter used handkerchiefs for the defense to grab, then later developed a belt-flag system. Players wear belts with flags attached and which can be pulled off with a certain amount of pressure. He is the owner/founder of Flag-A-Tag Inc., and produces the best belts anyone could use (because they are so durable, withstand hot/cold weather and time itself).
But as this was going on in Tucson, Arizona... in 1956, another fellow by the name of John Carrigan was having a hard time with his military men playing rough football and getting hurt. To decrease injuries, he enforced his men to use handkerchiefs and hang from their pockets. Once grabbed, the ball would be set on that spot. The game became so popular that in 1956, the first organized flag-football league was formed in Baltimore, Maryland, organized by the city of Baltimore Park & Rec. It was a men's league (organized WFF still was not recorded or created), Society really dictates human behavior. However, women were watching their boyfriends, friends, or just the game and interest among women grew. With Title lX, came the beginning of many opportunities for females. It opened the door to flag-football being played, equally (supposedly) as the boys, in schools. Schools create the seed for further advancement of sports. And then there was the popularity of the Super Bowl, which started in 1968, and made pro-football a great spectator sport , thus attracting more female enthusiasm for the game. The "women's movement" in the late 60's and 70's, became a strong influence and force among women in the behavior, attitudes and opportunities in our society. The women were getting ready to take on new roles in business, family... and sports!
The first flag-football tournament was sanctioned by the USFFA (United States Flag-Football Association, in 1974 and played in Ohio. There were four women's teams from Akron and Cleveland. And as women noticed women playing... more women understood that this was an opportunity for them as well as the men.
The North East Women's Football League (NEWFL), is the oldest and largest organized league of women flag-football players which we know of today. This league began in 1971, and was started by Frank Storck of the of Philadelphia, PA. Parks & Rec. Dept. It was a woman's desire to play who had approached Frank, who had organized women's softball, to start a women's flag-football league. They started with six teams and have grown to 28 teams with three separate divisions/ level of skill.
The mid-west got on the map in 1975 as the NTFL opened up and offered flag-football to their women. Out of that area came the St. Louis Michelob Light team which had ranked as the #1 women's flag-football team for three consecutive years from '94 - '96 according to the rankings of the NWFFA standings.
Long Island Women's Flag-Football started their league in 1976. The Brooklyn Women's Flag-Football League, founded by myself, began our league with six teams. Over on the west coast, Sacramento WFF came to be in 1989, the San Francisco Women's Flag-Football League started in 1990 and the Key West Women's Flag-Football (KWWFFL) began in 1991. And as the IWFFA is sifting and sorting the history of WFF, we know many other teams and leagues had been organized throughout the US since 1971 which still continues. An event which has made a huge impact on WFF and promotes the sport has been the KWWFFL/Flag-A-Tag International Kickoff, where every spring in Key West, Florida dozens of teams of WFF players come from all over the US, Canada and Europe to play the game. It began in 1992 with 5 teams and has grown to 32 teams participating in it's seventh annual event (during President's weekend). There will be well over 45 teams of girls and women flag football players for it's eighth: February 11 - 15, 1999.
Women have gathered as individuals or teams to play in this tournament, and taken back to their hometown the excitement and energy needed for the growth of the sport. In the past year, Sharon Sanchez, and individual (who came from Los Angeles) played on the Key West team ('96 tournament), went back home and began the LA Riot Girls, who now has 3 teams in their area and are beginning a league at present. And the biggest influence has been seen in Houston, Texas, where Dr. Kris Anderson (also an individual player on the '96 KW team) went home after the tournament and began the Houston Women's Flag-Football League with 8 teams!
With media exposure from the NFL Films Inc., Sports Illustrated , People Magazine, and various other forms of media have exposed the sport to women who never knew it existed and was available to them. WFF exists, continues to grow and is getting stronger through the IWFFA whose goal is to organize, promote and ultimately professionalize the sport for females. In the past year alone, regional tournaments have been added to: Seattle, WA., Northampton, MA., San Francisco, CA., Houston, TX., and it's European Tour of competitive games and clinics in: Ireland, England, Denmark, Germany and the Nederlands. Each year two additional tournaments will be added to the circuit of IWFFA tournaments. The national conferences for WFF players are held end of August each year, and rotates in it's location, offering workshops, guest speakers and where league representatives will discuss rules, operations and goals of the IWFFA. The benefits of becoming a member of the IWFFA are bountiful as players are able to obtain medical, dental, liability coverage.... leagues receive a five million dollar liability policy for free to mention a few of those benefits. Recently, the IWFFA has incorporated girls into it's membership and tournaments. There are two divisions of girls" ages 10 - 13 and ages 14 - 17 yr. To date, the organization has over 5,000 on it's mailing list and continues to grow at a rapid rate as women and girls find out about the organization.
The IWFFA has been conducting clinics all over United States, Mexico and Europe creating new teams and leagues, thus truly helping the sport grow.
Professional Women's Flag-Football... get ready for it!
* (In Sally Jenkins book: 'Men will be Boys', she describes these two men as being the first
sportswriters in history).
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