New Australian womens gridiron football competition to focus on skills not sex appeal

A new Australian competition, that will again see women play American gridiron football, is aiming to empower women and focus on athleticism.

Following in the footsteps of the Legends/Lingerie Football League Australia, which ran amid considerable controversy in 2013/14, but which was scrapped in October last year, the Ladies Gridiron League (LGL) is toning down players’ lingerie-style uniforms.

Instead, the female gridiron players will wear bike shorts and crop-tops during games.

The LGL, which will feature teams from Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth/West Coast and Sydney, explain that the fast-paced, seven-a-side version of full contact American football will empower women with a firm focus on athleticism, rather than sex appeal.

The LGL, which is independent of the US-based Legends Football League, will commence in October with a pay-television channel set to broadcast the games.

Emphasising the broad appeal of the sport, the Perth-based West Coast Angels team includes established athletes, police officers, lawyers and personal trainers.

Angels linebacker Rhyanna Edbrooke said the women worked just as hard as the local men's team.

Edbrooke told the ABC “they come and play with us and they know we hit bloody hard.

"We are athletes on the field - we play sport and we play it hard."

Angels player and personal trainer Nicole Harvey said the focus was now on skills, not sex appeal, stating "I think it's got more of a healthier, Aussie sportsman attitude to it - they're taking away the sexualisation and making it a game that families want to come and watch.”

Edbrooke, said the new uniforms were an improvement on those of the Lingerie Football League, but suggested there was still a long way to go, adding “but if that's what it takes to play with our sisters on the field, that's what we're going to do.

"Because it's evolving so fast, it eventually won't be about what we're wearing, it'll be about the game."

In the new league, players will be covered by insurance and will receive match payments as part of a push for the game to shed its image as a novelty sport with a focus on sex appeal.

The Australian Womensport and Recreation Association (AWRA, a vocal critic of the former Legends/Lingerie Football League Australia, still believes that the sport sends the wrong message to women and young girls in particular.

AWRA Secretary Janice Crosswhite said the skimpy attire was unnecessary, telling the ABC "I don't understand why you have to be in your underwear to play this particular sport.”

Crosswhite said there were already established women's gridiron competitions in Victoria and Queensland, adding “why doesn't this group of people start up a regular gridiron competition, wear the proper clothing and develop the sport the same as the men play it.

"I think that's the underlying message - you are just trying to sell sex appeal and sell a product that's going to appeal more to men.

"Young girls are going to watch this and say 'is this the way I should feel about my body? Do I need to expose my body to do well?

"What does that do to self-esteem and self-image?"

Edbrooke said the league had provided a much-needed boost to gridiron in Australia, concluding "gridiron has been in Australia for about 20 years but no-one really knew about it.

"For it to actually be noticed as a female league (you) almost had to sexualise it in a sense."

Click here to visit the Ladies Gridiron League website.

Images: Facebook

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