Ashley Brown has it all mapped out: The 14-year old Girl Scout plans to be a lawyer, a singer and a football player.
She has more company than you might think among teen girls. She was one of more than 100 who showed up for the first ever NFL-backed football clinic for girls who want to test their mettle at 11-person tackle football.
The recent two-day clinic was organized by Andra Douglas, owner of the women's tackle team the New York Sharks, with help from the New York Giants and the backing of the NFL's junior development program. The response suggested it won't be the last such event, as it was overbooked and drew girls to Giants Stadium in New Jersey's Meadowlands from as far away as Maine.
“The number of girls expressing interest in playing football continues to increase,” said Cedric Jones, the NFL's senior director of youth football. This program aims to "teach these young girls the fundamental skills they’ll need to play.”
There are approximately 80 women's teams in three different tackle football leagues across the country for players who are 18 and over. But they all suffer a common problem: While there's no shortage of women athletes, very few young players come to the women's teams with much experience. There's no system for girls akin to Little League or Pop Warner to generate a large pool of players.
The NFL junior development program has allowed girls for some time, but none have specifically targeted girls. Only about 1,000 American girls play tackle football at the high school level.
"When that first bus came around the corner, and all the girls started getting off, it brought tears to my eyes," said Douglas, who recently retired as quarterback for the Sharks.
The Sharks-Giants-NFL clinic will become an annual event, and Douglas said she hopes to see the model be adopted by women's teams across the country.
"Hopefully this is going to spur something — to get something going across the nation," she said. Short of that, she's spotted some potential on the field that could just come in handy for the Sharks in a few years.
"I’m sorry some of them weren’t already 18," she said. "There were definitely some talented little athletes."