For years, football has been known as a man's game, a sport of contact, hard hits and huge guys running down the field to score touchdowns. However, all that changed when the nationally recognized Independent Women's Football League was formed. Now football is showing women love too.
More than 1,600 women play for the IWFL's 51 teams. They extend from Southern California to Montreal and Washington to Florida with consistent expansion into new markets. Danita Horton, a former N.C. Central University graduate, plays in the IWFL for the Carolina Phoenix in Durham County.
"I gained an interest in playing football about three years ago when I was asked by a friend to join their women's flag football team through Durham's Parks and Rec league," Horton said.
After two years of playing flag football, she was asked by one of her teammates to come out for the women's tackle league.
Horton, a former member of the NCCU Sound Machine, credits the band with her success on the field.
"The NCCU Sound Machine marching band helped me with discipline, to be on time and follow individual directions inside a bigger scheme for us all to accomplish one goal," she said.
The Carolina Phoenix will be playing at the Durham County Stadium this year. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for children under 12. Military personnel and senior citizens pay $5.
"We take our game just as serious, and in our opinion play better because we have something to prove every time we put our pads on or advertise," said Horton.
The Carolina Phoenix has been a part of the IWFL for five years, seven years after the league was formed.
"The IWFL was started by two former female players that just wanted to create a safe place for women to play back in 1999," said Timothy Holmes, head coach of the Carolina Phoenix.
The NFL rules and IWFL are similar, but with subtle differences.
"The IWFL regulation football is smaller than a regulation NFL football to allow for smaller female hands," said Holmes.
"Also in our league we have banned blocking below the waist in any form, as women tend to be prone to ACL injuries."































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