First and goal: ASU women’s flag football club gets ready to drive into their first season

While the advent of Title IX has helped establish collegiate sports programs for women across the country, if you were to search for “college football,” who knows how long it would take before you find women’s representation. 

But they have always been there, and now they are here at Arizona State University with the Women’s Flag Football Club. 

“I did start this club,” Team Captain and ASU sophomore Sierra Smith said. “I started last year right when I got to Arizona State University. I played at the high school level at Hamilton High School for two years. And then when we got to ASU, I was like, dang, we never got a chance to play at the collegiate level. So, I thought to bring it to Arizona State University.”

However Smith was certainly not the only one with a football background. 

“I first started playing football when I was in seventh grade, but I've been around football my entire life,” Emily Pablo, an ASU first year studying technical communication at the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, said. “My dad was a football coach at a local high school in Winderup, Arizona. Football just means everything. It's a family thing. It holds a special place in my heart.” 

“I first started playing football when I was actually eight years old,” Elena Johnson, an ASU first year studying Health Sciences, said. “I played tackle football with my two brothers. They were playing it, and I just loved it. I was like, why can't I do this?”

“What inspired me to play was my siblings,” Saydee Sifuentes, an ASU first year studying environmental engineering, said. “My brother actually plays. He played quarterback, we're only a year apart, and he needed a receiver. So I started playing receiver at a very young age.”

Stories like this can often go unheard and unfinished if there are no opportunities for women to engage in sports. The very notion of this has been a strong motivation for many of the players on the team.

“That was my whole reason for starting this campaign, was to just inspire youth and people across the valley and the country to play girls' flag football,” Smith said. “Football has always been deemed as a male-dominated sport, and our goal is to show that we can play, too.”

“It just shows that women can do the same things as men can in sports and can be just as entertaining,” Allison Rodriguez, an ASU junior studying dietetics and business, said. “You see how women's basketball is blowing up. I feel like this could be the same exact thing.”

While women’s basketball is blowing up, women’s football is blowing down barriers in women’s college athletics and continuing to add to the conversation around women in sports.

“I honestly just think it's cool because we're able to come out here and break the stigma that football is just a male-dominated sport,” Avalyn Roden, an ASU first year studying computer engineering, said. 

And while some are looking to bring the sport to a wider audience, some are just looking to bring heat.

“I'd say just being capable, showing that we can do the sports that are just as ugly or rough as guys do. It's all about capability,” Audrey King, an ASU first year studying nursing, said.

“I think it's great that we're setting this standard for women all over, that we can play this sport as well as men can and that we can do just as good at it,” Taylor Ehmke, an ASU first year studying tourism development and management, said. 

“We're able to get our aggressive side out,” Johnson said. “It's so inspiring because I just feel so empowered when I play it. I feel smart, strong, and I just love the game and what it brings.”

That being said, when it comes down to it, each player on this team seems to share a common interest. Taking this team to the next level. 

“The whole purpose of the team is for this to spread throughout the country and for other schools to start programs like this. I definitely want to go to nationals, go into a bunch of big tournaments, and actually make a name for ourselves,” Rodriguez said. 

“I hope that we can eventually become a D1 sport so more women can play football and that it's just not male-dominated,” Ehmke said.

“Overall, I just really want the sport to grow, especially at ASU and overall around colleges. Obviously we're going to have a great season, but it would be so much more fun if more schools could join in and be a part of it, and it can really become something big and become known,” Roden said.

Women’s flag football is more than just a club at ASU, it is another step forward in creating equitable opportunities for women to engage in sports. And it is just the beginning, even for the Sun Devils on the team. 

“My goal for the sport at large is making this a nationwide thing,” Pablo said. “It's definitely coming up, and we'll just try to push to be number one. We basically made history here at ASU.” 

With their sights set on National championships and D1 opportunities, the club shared advice for bright-eyed women athletes across the country looking to join the movement. 

“Go to that tryout. I went to tryouts not expecting to be good and now I'm on the first team for ASU. Just go to that tryout and do your best because that's all you can do,” King said.

“Don't let stupid people make you feel bad about it. Just do it anyway,” Rodriguez said. 

“Just don't give up. You can do anything, because they don't know you and what you've been through. So you've just gotta make it your best and give it your all,” Pablo said.

“I would say believe in yourself. You never should doubt yourself because you don't know what you're capable of,” Johnson said. 

“I would say just don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do something,” Ehmke said. 

“Keep going, don't let anyone get you down, keep pushing, and you can do it,” Roden said.

“I believe women can do anything men can do. It is pretty awesome… So also, I thank Sophie and Sierra, honestly, for making this program at ASU,” Sifuentes said.

For captains Sierra and Sophia Smith, that was always the mission. 

“The importance of being a captain is just being able to empower and inspire athletes. That's my whole goal,” Smith said. 

And as the ASU Women’s Flag Football team moves forward to their first season ever, they extend their mission to fellow Sun Devils who are looking to show up and show out. 

Our season will officially start in January. We have a couple of preseason tournaments in December,” Smith said. “Students can support us by coming to games, following us on Instagram, Twitter and staying up to date with what we have going on,” Smith said “We have a bunch of events coming up and fundraising events, and that's really how people can support our team.”