Women as High School Football Players

At Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, Luisana Cruz was listed on the Lincoln High Tigers football roster, served as the student body president for the 1999-2000 school year, and as a candidate for homecoming. Three other girls also were on the school football team (as special team players and backup position players) and their coach (Leo Castro) didn’t hesitate to send them into a game. Their play was based on their work ethic and attitude, not their sex or gender. These four young women on the football team experienced resentment toward them by the cheerleaders and frequently ambivalent-at-best attitudes on the part of male football team members.

Cruz ended up playing in a losing effort (34-0) against her homecoming football opponent and losing the homecoming queen crown to another student. The question is, “Does opting for participation in a traditionally male sport make a woman any less feminine and thus less legitimate a candidate for a traditionally feminine status (e.g., homecoming queen)?”

Source

Cruz, Luisana, “A Fullback Picks Her Gown,” Time (Nov. 15, 1999): 17.

NOTE: The following Web link will take you to the Home Page of the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL), which serves as a feeder for women’s high school football programs:
http://iwflsports.com/