Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

More common

Female football players no longer unique

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Thursday September 02, 1999 02:11 PM

MARION, Indiana (AP) -- Kristin Marcuccilli may be breaking ground as the first girl to play high school football in Grant County, but on a national level, it's certainly nothing unusual.

In fact, the number of girls playing organized high school football has risen dramatically over the last few seasons.

According to the most recent numbers available from the National Federation of State High School Associations, 779 girls played on boys' high school football teams in 1997-98.

Although it's not a record number, the figures were part of a three-year trend indicating a decided increase in girls' participation in the sport.

However, when compared to the 971,000,176 boys in grades 9-12 who participated in an organized high school football program for the same year, the number of girls competing in the sport figures out to less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

"In most of the cases in football, girls were playing positions that did not require as much size or strength," said Bruce Howard, director of publications and communications for the NFSHSA, which is based in Kansas City. "Most of them are in kicking roles, and very few are in interior line positions."

Howard said the first report of a girl playing high school football was in 1983-84. Girls' participation numbers were as low as 295 in 1994-95 before jumping to 791 in 1995-96 and numbering 740 in 1996-97.

"It's not unusual, but I can't tell you how many we have," said Jim Russell, the sports information director for the Indiana High School Athletic Association. "We don't track that."

Russell said there is no IHSAA rule prohibiting girls from playing football because there is no companion sport for girls, unlike baseball and softball or boys and girls basketball. He said a few girls also compete in wrestling each year because there is no similar sport offered for them at the same time.

"I would not say it's common, but it's less unusual now," Russell said. "This is certainly not a first or unique, but it is the first one that I have heard about this year."

 

Related information
Stories
Former shot putter turns football coach
Multimedia
Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.