Utah Girls Football League

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Utah Girls Football League
Utah Girls Tackle Football.png
AbbreviationGFL
FormationFounded 2015
Founded atSalt Lake County, Utah
TypeYouth Sports League
Legal statusNonprofit
PurposeGender equality in American football
Region
Salt Lake County
Commissioner
Crystal Sacco
Samantha Rapoport Et. al.
Key people
Sam Gordon
AffiliationsUSA Football
Websiteutahgirlstacklefootball.com

The Utah Girls Football League (or Utah Girls Tackle Football League) is a nonprofit all-girls youth American football league.[1] Founded in March 2015, the league is currently in its seventh season. It is the first all-girls tackle football league in the world and has grown continuously since its inception.[2][3] As of its 2020 season,[4] the GFL consists of three age divisions: elementary (grades 3-6), junior high (grades 7-9), and a High School division.[4] The league has over 400 girls on 24 teams; 35% of the girls are minorities.[5]

The league is currently run by a board of directors, overseen by the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the league. Everyone in the league (apart from the match officials) is a volunteer.

Sam Gordon, female football player, known for her abilities as a football player that gained her acclaim playing with the boys when she was nine years old, helped found the league in 2015 and played in it each season since until she graduated high school in 2021.

One of the founders of the league stated that its goal "is to make Utah the birthplace of girls high school football and that goal has not changed.”[6]

History[]

Creation as a nonprofit[]

In 2014, two years after Sam Gordon's football highlight video went viral, she posed a question at a school assembly she attended, asking which girls would be interested in playing tackle football and reportedly "dozens of hands went up."[7] This interest caused Gordon and her father, an attorney, to look into starting a league of their own. They contacted a former offensive lineman for the Utah Jynx Women’s Football team, Crystal Sacco, who was already making steps to start an all-girls youth league in the area. They also called USA Football Director of Football Development Samantha Rapoport for help.[8] Sacco would go on to become the commissioner of the league and Rapoport would become a member of the board of directors.

In early 2015, with the assistance of a few local professional women's football players, Gordon and her father founded the Utah Girls Tackle Football League as a non-profit.[9] It is the first known full-contact all-girls youth tackle football league ever.[10] According to the organizers, the league filled up completely just three days after sign-ups began.[8] Around 50 fifth and sixth-graders took part in the inaugural season, which was just four-weeks, compared to the current nine-week season.[7]

Media coverage[]

The Utah Girls Football League gained national acclaim when it started in 2015. It has seen nationwide news coverage. The league has received both praise and criticism. While most news organizations initially simply reported on it being the first of its kind (like CNN,[11] The Huffington Post,[12] USA Today,[13] Fox 13,[14] NBC News,[15] Yahoo Sports[16] and Good Housekeeping[17]), others, such as Bleacher Report[18] and espnW,[19] reported on Sam Gordon's role in the league. Some media companies have even taken a specific stance on the league. ESPN, for example, aired a segment in which the safety of the league was called into question.[20] In the segment, they brought on a medical doctor who said that there is heightened risk of concussions for children and perhaps even further risk for girls.[21][22] Others, however, have pushed praise onto the league, encouraging their audience to sign up.[23]

In 2020, two teams from the Utah Girls Football League played an exhibition match as the NFL Pro Bowl half time show. The teams had players representing seventeen different Utah high schools.[24][25]

Lawsuit to create public school-affiliated all-girls tackle football teams[]

In June 2017 Sam Gordon and her father, alongside five other Utah Girls Football League players (and their parents), filed a class action lawsuit against three local school districts to force public high schools to offer girls’ football in the Salt Lake Valley.[26] Gordon spoke about the difficulties that girls who want to play tackle football face, saying that when she played with boys "I had a target on my back, and it was in the shape of a ponytail." As the only girl in the Ute conference youth tackle football league, she heard parents from opposing teams urge their kids to “beat the girl.”[27]

The lawsuit used Title IX as justification and received national coverage.[28] The two-week trial featured testimony from girls who played and suffered a range of experiences, including assault and exclusion.[29] Gordon and the plaintiffs claimed girls were not offered equal opportunities in the districts’ football teams, and should be offered separate football teams. As the girls were from the Granite, Jordan and Canyons school district, those were the districts that were named as the defendants (in addition to the Utah Attorney General's Office).[30]

In 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Howard Nielson ruled in favor of the defendants, stating that Utah school districts aren’t legally required to create a separate sport for girls interested in playing football because girls who want to play can play on teams usually filled by boys.[31][32] Nielson went on to say that “The mere fact that Defendants do not provide separate football teams for boys and girls is not discrimination on the basis of sex. To the contrary, it is undisputed that girls are permitted to play football and do in fact play, albeit in extremely limited numbers."[33] The Federal ruling judged that constitutional and Title IX rights were not violated by the defendants.[30]

Districts[]

GFL is split into six districts based on the local cities and schools. Each division consists of three teams which are further divided by age: elementary (grades 3-6), junior high (grades 7-9), and High School (grades 10-12).[34] These districts compete against one another at their corresponding age level.

Corporate structure[]

The Utah Girls Football League is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is run by a board of directors.[35] The league's board of directors is responsible for electing a Commissioner. The current president of the league is Crystal Sacco.[36][37] According to the rules of the Utah Girls Football League, the president is "responsible for coordinating and running meetings, maintaining league records, initiating the scheduling process, revising and distributing league rules, monitoring the registration process, and acting as the final arbiter of any disputes that might arise."[35]

Any formal propositions to change any league methods, procedures, systems or other major decisions are affirmed by a greater part vote of the Board of Directors present at the meeting at which the vote is taken. If necessary, the Commissioner of the league will vote to break the tie.[35] The GFL only employees volunteers who do not receive pay for their work/contributions to the league, the exception to this being the official game referees.[citation needed] In addition to the board of directors, Utah Girls Football League also employees a Deputy Commissioner, Treasurer, Safety Coordinator, Marketing Coordinator, Web Developer, Coaching Coordinator, and League Secretary.[36] Coaches for the league are volunteers and must be USA Football Heads-Up certified.[35]

References[]

  1. ^ KGO (2015-05-26). "First known all-girls tackle football league kicks off in Utah". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  2. ^ "Girls tackle football? Yeah, it's happening". Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  3. ^ "1st known all-girls tackle football league formed in Utah". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. May 26, 2015. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Utah Girls Tackle Football League". Utah Girls Tackle Football League. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  5. ^ "This Football League Was Built For Girls Who Love To Hit". Deadspin.
  6. ^ "Here's what spirit, speed and grit looked like at championship games in the Utah Girls Tackle Football League". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Gregory, Sean (June 25, 2015). "Girls Can Tackle Football, Too". Time. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Mandell, Nina (2015-05-21). "A group of fifth and sixth grade girls are getting a tackle football league of their own". For The Win. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  9. ^ Bachman, Rachel (2017-09-05). "Girls Who Love Football Rush Into Their Own Leagues". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  10. ^ May 25, Jay Dortzbach | Posted-; P.m, 2015 at 6:32. "Utah hosts first girls-only tackle football league". www.ksl.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  11. ^ Viral football star joins 1st tackle league for girls - CNN Video, retrieved 2017-03-17
  12. ^ Dicker, Ron (2015-05-22). "There's Going To Be A Tackle Football League For Little Girls In Utah". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  13. ^ Mandell, Nina (2015-05-21). "A group of fifth and sixth grade girls are getting a tackle football league of their own". For The Win. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  14. ^ Vance, Morgan (2015-05-24). "Tackle football league for girls kicks off in West Jordan". fox13now.com. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  15. ^ "Girls Tackle Football League Is a Big Hit". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  16. ^ "Girls tackle football? Yeah, it's happening". Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  17. ^ "The First All-Girls Tackle Football League Debuts in Utah". Good Housekeeping. 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  18. ^ Studios, BR. "Sam Gordon Paved the Way for 1st All-Girls Tackle Football League". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  19. ^ "Phenom Sam Gordon Set To Star In First Girls Tackle Football League". espnW. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  20. ^ "Girls Youth Football: Is it Safe?". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  21. ^ "Amid the concussion crisis, a girl's tackle football league was formed in Utah. The question remains: is it safe?". ESPN on Twitter. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  22. ^ "Amid the concussion crisis, a girl's tackle football league for ages 10-13 was established in Utah. The question remains: is it safe?". ESPN on Facebook. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  23. ^ LAKANA (2017-03-02). "How Your Daughters Can Play Tackle Football". GOOD4UTAH. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  24. ^ Dreossi, Morgan (January 18, 2020). "PEPSI TAILGATE AT PRO BOWL TO HIGHLIGHT GAMEDAY FAN ACTIVITIES AT CAMPING WORLD STADIUM". NFL Communications. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  25. ^ Vejar, Alex (January 24, 2020). "Utah's Girls Tackle Football League will play at the Pro Bowl". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  26. ^ Eric, Adelson (June 26, 2017). "Sam Gordon – remember her? – files lawsuit to make girls high school football a reality". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  27. ^ Eppolito, Sophia (October 27, 2020). "Female football star sues for schools to offer girls' teams". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  28. ^ Cam, Smith (June 28, 2017). "One-time female youth football phenom is suing to create HS girls football league in Utah".
  29. ^ Edward, James (2020-12-30). "Beehive State high school sports year in review". Deseret News. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  30. ^ Jump up to: a b "Federal Judge: Constitutional and Title IX Rights Not Violated for Access to Girls in Football". Utah Attorney General. 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  31. ^ Gaydos, Ryan (2021-03-03). "Sam Gordon, viral football star, loses bid to have Utah school districts create all-girls teams". Fox News. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  32. ^ Whitehurst, Lindsay; Eppolito, Sophia (March 2, 2021). "Judge: Utah schools don't need to offer girls' football". Spokesman. Associated Press. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  33. ^ Vejar, Alex (2021-03-01). "Federal judge rules against girls trying to create sanctioned, separate high school football in Utah". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  34. ^ "Utah Girls Tackle Football League". Utah Girls Tackle Football League. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  35. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Utah Girls Tackle Football League Rules". Utah Girls Tackle Football League. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  36. ^ Jump up to: a b "Utah Girls Football League Linked In About". Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  37. ^ "Utah Girls Football League - About | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
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