When one thinks of girl’s football, two things come to mind; there is the school-favorite Powderpuff event, and then there is the less-wholesome Lingerie Bowl.  But serious talk about organized women’s football is quite lacking.  But Athens Drive could only benefit from a serious all-girl football team.

            Many traditionally masculine sports have a female counterpart.  There is women’s hockey.  Some women even participate in wrestling and boxing.  Women’s lacrosse is another example of a male contact sport modified for girls.  There is no reason that football could not be changed as well to allow for girls.

            Women’s football is building up.  Currently, there is a fourteen-team league, the Women’s Professional Football League (WPFL), as well as the semi-professional Independent Women’s Football League and the National Women’s Football Association.  The Carolina Queens, from the WPFL, are based in Charlotte, so there is a possibility that the proximity of this team will cause a surge in interest in girls’ football.

            For growing sports, attention is very valuable.  Take ice hockey, for example.  After the Carolina Hurricanes went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002, turnout increased tremendously for the Raleigh Youth Hockey Association.  And when the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006, interest increased again.  If the Carolina Queens are able to win a championship, or at least make it to the WPFL Championship Game, it is very likely that interest in girl’s football will grow.

            Many detractors of girls in football claim that girls are not physically able to play football.  However, girls tend to reach physical maturity earlier than boys.  A sixteen-year old girl could be fully grown at the same time that a sixteen-year old boy is just reaching his growth spurt.

            Every sport has to get a start somewhere, women’s sports included.  Women’s ice hockey made its Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.  Since then, the women’s hockey turnout has increased by four hundred percent.  It is only plausible that, given how much easier it is to play football than hockey, women’s football turnout will increase at least as fast, if not faster, than ice hockey.  And that would mean plenty to pick from at the first tryout for an Athens girls football team.