Women's gridiron football, more commonly known as women's tackle football, women's American football, women's Canadian football, or simply women's football, is a form of gridiron football played by women. Most leagues play by similar rules to the men's game. Women primarily play on a semi-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 otherwise male team.
The American Football Women's League (AFWL) 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. The AFWL officially disbanded in March 2003, due to money and attendance problems.
The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) was the first women's American football league established by women players for women players. The league was founded in 2000, began play in 2001, and played its last season in 2018. Members of the original roster of the Austin Outlaws were the league's founders. Following the establishment of the league as a separate entity from the team, former Outlaws players Laurie Frederick, Jaime Bailey, and Sandra Plato became the original IWFL executive council.
James Foster is the inventor of the game of Arena Football,, the founder and first commissioner of the Arena Football League (AFL).
The Women's American Football League (WAFL) was a women's American football league that was formed in 2001. After disbanding, the teams merged with the Women's Affiliated Football Conference (WAFC), the Independent Women's Football League (IWFL), Women's Football Association (WFA), and the American Football Women's League (AFWL), itself now disbanded.
Wells Fargo Arena is a multi-purpose arena in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Part of the Iowa Events Center, the arena opened on July 12, 2005, at a cost of $117 million. Named for title sponsor Wells Fargo, the arena replaced the aging Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center as the Des Moines area's primary venue for sporting events and concerts.
The Lancaster Barnstormers are an American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Barnstormers have played their home games at Clipper Magazine Stadium in the city's Northwest Corridor since 2005.
The Minnesota Vixen is a professional women's football team based in the Twin Cities. The team has been known as the Minnesota Vixens and Minneapolis Vixens prior to being known as the Vixen.
The Empire State Roar was a women's tackle football team in Rochester, New York. They played at East High School. The team was a member of the Women's Professional Football League (WPFL) for three football seasons, 2005–2007.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies in NCAA Division I, as well as many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
The New York Sharks were a women's American football team that was based in New York City. Their final season in 2018 was played as a member team of the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). They were the longest running and most winning team in women's football history with the honor of having a signed football in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In athletics terminology, barnstorming refers to sports teams or individual athletes that travel to various locations, usually small towns, to stage exhibition matches. Barnstorming teams differ from traveling teams in that they operate outside the framework of an established athletic league, while traveling teams are designated by a league, formally or informally, to be a designated visiting team.
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams among indoor football leagues. As of 2023 season, the league consists of 14 teams in two conferences with each team playing 16 games over 19 weeks.
The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a professional full-contact Women's American football tackle that began play in 2009. It is the largest 11-on-11 football league for women in the world, and the longest running active women's football league in the U.S. Since 2016, the league has operated with three competitive levels: Pro, Division 2 and Division 3. The league is owned and operated by Jeff King and Lisa Gibbons King of Exeter, California. Lisa King is also a wide receiver for the WFA's, Cali War.
The Miami Fury is a football team in the Women's Football Alliance. Based in Miami, Florida, the Fury plays its home games at Carter Park.
Dempsey Hovland was a baseball and basketball barnstorming entrepreneur and promoter and multiple sports team owner. He founded the 20th Century Booking Agency, a sports booking management for arranging and marketing of sporting exhibition events and booking of venues. He and his wife Florence Holder Hovland owned the Miss American Teenager beauty pageant in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Boston Storm are a United Women's Lacrosse League (UWLX) professional women's field lacrosse team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They have played in the UWLX since the 2016 season. In the 2017 season, the four teams in the UWLX played in a barnstorming format, with all four teams playing at a single venue.
The Women's Arena Football League (WAFL) was an 8-on-8 full contact professional American football league based out of Houston, Texas. Founded in 2011, games were played in the spring and summer months in arenas around the United States. The league is somewhat similar to the male-based Arena Football League and Indoor Football League, but with slightly different rules as well as no goalposts or rebound nets. It began play in 2012 with six teams. The founder and league president is Ivan Tompkins, Dwayne Ware Coach and former AFL player with the Houston Thunderbears and head coach of the charter Houston Lady Oilers. Their championship game is known as the Diva Bowl.
The Women's Professional Football League (WPFL) was the first American football league for women. It was founded in 1965 by talent agent Sid Friedman, for exhibition games. The WPFL ceased operations in 1973.
Women's American football in the United States is the American football sport played by women, both regionally in the United States and worldwide in the IFAF Women's World Championship.
