TAMPA - Football isn’t just for the guys anymore.
Over the past decade, the number of female high school football participants has risen nationwide.
According to annual reports from the National Federation of State High School Associations…The number of female participants in football has gone up by nearly 100% over the last 8 years:
FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS
SCHOOL YEAR NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
2017-18: 2,401
2016-17: 2,134
2015-16: 1,948
2009 -10: 1,249
At the beginning of this trend was Jessica Weatherman – who was the first female football player at Steinbrenner High School in 2011.
“I remember being so nervous when I first started playing,” said Weatherman, who is now a Deputy in the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department.
Weatherman was playing on Steinbrenner’s flag football team when her coach suggested she go out for the football team. So, she did.
Her teammates were accepting and kind. It didn’t take long for Jessica to see herself as a true member of the Warriors’ football team.
“Every time I step on that field I remember all of the gassers, all of the games, the fans, the cheerleaders,” said Weatherman. “It just takes me back and that was one of the best times of my life.”
In recent years…young women playing football has gone beyond being a novelty. Now…it’s about having success on the field.
In 2017 kicker Becca Longo, out of Arizona, became the first female to earn a Division II football scholarship. She is now kicking at Adams State University in Colorado.
Last season in our state Hollywood Hills quarterback Holly Neher became the first female QB to throw a touchdown in Florida high school football history. In the Bay Area female football players are becoming more of the norm. That includes kickers at both Dixie Hollins and Nature Coast Tech.
“It is new to the school,” said Lexi Davies, who kicks for Dixie Hollins in St. Petersburg. “This has always been a guys football team. But the entire team has been so supportive and has stood up for me.”
“My teammates were influencing everything and the guys were cheering for me and it was exciting,” said Alex Florkowski, who kicks for Nature Coast Tech in Brooksville. “I want to be the best kicker ever at my school and maybe get a scholarship.”
Both Lexi and Alex play soccer for their schools and see this avenue as a way of helping them achieve scholarships for college. Lexi would like to study marine biology and play soccer at Florida Gulf Coast University. Alex says she is going for that football scholarship, but her soccer game could take her on another path.
No matter the sport, or any passion, Jessica Weatherman says just go for it.
“Whatever you put your mind to, you can do it.,” said Jessica. “No matter if you make the team or not it is worth a try. It’s worth a try to do anything. It goes beyond football and beyond high school – it goes into your future profession and your family and the way you carry yourself.”
The last decade has seen historic growth for young women in high school football. Maybe in another ten years it won’t be a topic of discussion: it will just be the norm.