page_title: Women's American football
section_title: Leagues
hierarchical_section_title: Women's American football / Leagues
caption_attribution_description: English: BACK ROW (L to R) Mary Pardy, Beverly Coombs, Marlys Bower, Doris Treloar, Muriel Tupper, Joyce Rave, Nancy Baughman, Susie Lowrie. MIDDLE ROW: Anna Ruth Lang, Dorothy Carper, Phyllis Linafelter, Ruth Hart, Joyce Walters, Beverly Rubin, Barbara Stearns. FRONT ROW: Donna Haley, Laurel Caldwell, Dona Keiner, Jeanette Johnson, Carol Weber, Elaine Norris, Janis Holsworth, Pauline Grytness. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Stearns Turner)
context_page_description: Women's gridiron football, more commonly known as 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 the same rules as their male counterparts, with one exception: women's leagues use a slightly smaller football. 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 first evidence of women playing organized football was in 1926. It was then that an NFL team called the Frankford Yellow Jackets employed a women's team for halftime entertainment.
context_section_description: Leagues play American football unless otherwise noted.
caption: The Eastern State Women's Football Team, 1945
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