Sam Gordon has spent the past decade advocating for women and girls to play football. Now, Under Armour joins her in the fight for womenās football equity.
In 2012, aĀ nine-year-old Sam Gordon tore up the field in her local Utah PeeWee Football League, logging 35 touchdowns and 65 tackles as she terrorized on both sides of the ball.
What made Sam different was that she was a nine-year-old girl, and her ability to play football challenged the antiquated notion that girls donāt play the game. But Sam, like many female football players in the past, didnāt have an opportunity to play past childrenās leagues.
So Sam Gordon made her own.
In her home state of Utah, Gordon formedĀ the first all-girls tackle football league in the nation,Ā which earned her the NFL Honorsā Game Changer Award.
Now, Gordon has brought the game she loves to hundreds of Utah girls as her tackle league grows, proving what Gordon and fellow womenās footballers have known for decades: women love to play football, too.
Under Armour, a company known for endorsing athletes that catalyze social change, has partnered with Sam Gordon to āestablish a pathway for aspiring female athletes of all ages to be able to compete in American football so that the next generation of girls can play.ā
Here are the ways in which Under Armour is using its resources to equip Gordon with the tools she needs to share the game she loves with girls everywhere.
- Sam and UA will host two UA Next football camps for girls in Mission Viejo and Samās hometown of Salt Lake City, where she will guide programming and mentor the young women alongside former NFL coaches and current female football coaches like Mickey Grace and Tammy Moore.
- Sam is helping UA launch the brandās first-ever womenās football cleats: the Womenās UA Blur Cleat hitting shelves in March and the Womenās UA Spotlight Cleat set to go on sale in Spring 2023.
- UA is now the official sponsor of the Utah Girls Tackle Football League, providing apparel and gear for the leagueās 600 players, and giving the leagueās 36 teams the opportunity to play at the University of Utahās Rice-Eccles Stadium, so they can play under the lights just like the boys.
FanSided had the opportunity to catch up with Sam Gordon, an avid athlete who now plays soccer as a freshman at Columbia University
What is your first football memory?
My family was always a football family. I know we all threw the ball around constantly, but my first real football memory is playing at recess against the boys. I remember thinking of it like sharks and minnows, still excited to prove myself against the other boys. I remember juking out the other team, and celebrating with mine when I scored. Iāve loved football for a long time.
I read that your brotherās coach is the person who encouraged you to play football. Was playing football already a dream of yours, or did having someone recognize your aptitude make you realize your potential?
My brotherās coach encouraged me to get started, but my dad has been my biggest champion through it all. It wasnāt necessarily a dream of mine to play football specifically, but I wanted to play all sports as a kid, so why not football? Having my brotherās coach catalyze the process and my dadās support every step of the way has led me to where I am now: working with Under Armour to get more girls involved in football.
Whatās the support been like from your family and community?
My family and community have always been supportive of my decisions and my dreams. Itās gotten me to where I am today and I couldnāt have done it without them. They push me to break down barriers, which has resulted in so many amazing accomplishments, like working with Under Armour! Together, weāre working to increase equity in sport and give more female athletes access to football.
When I interviewed the women on Team Milk, most of them played football with boys but had to stop at high school because there was no football program for women, but youāve changed that for girls your age. What did it mean for your teammates, and what did it mean for you, when you realized that you didnāt have to stop playing?
Iām so glad you asked that question. Three years after I started playing tackle football with the boys, my dad and I set out to give more girls the opportunity to play. We knew there was interest, the issue was a lack of access. So in 2015, we formed the countryās first all-girls tackle football league, the Utah Girls Tackle Football league. And in just six seasons, the league has grown from 50 participants to over 600.
Creating this league and watching it grow has been an absolute honor. Especially now that we have the support of Under Armour. As an official sponsor of the league, Under Armour will not only provide players with apparel, but also help give participants the chance to play like the boysāunder some Friday night lights at the University of Utah. THATāS the dream right there! Thereās absolutely nothing like playing under the lights, and Iām so glad more girls will now have the opportunity to do so.
You changed the game for girls your age across America, but going to college presents another barrier: there is not an NCAA league for womenās football. How would you like to see that change?
I see no reason for womenās football to be any different than menās football. Female athletes deserve the same opportunities: camps, pee wee to high school to NCAA programs, a funnel to a professional league. Iām committed to helping create it via the work Iām doing with Under Armour. For instance, weāre hosting UA Next football camps for high school girls and we just launched Under Armourās first-ever womenās football cleats ā the Womenās UA Blur Cleat ā together!
Itās the 50th anniversary of Title IX, and womenās football is the most glaring example that women do not receive the same athletic opportunities as men. Do you think that a lack of womenās football programs at schools and universities is a violation of Title IX? How can institutions rectify this?
I do. Last year, a few teammates and I unsuccessfully challenged the Utah High School Athletic Association to have womenās tackle football sanctioned as a sport. That decision is now being appealed.
[Editorial Note: The federal judge presiding over this case reasoned that āUtah school districts arenāt legally required to create a separate team because girls who want to play football can play with the teams traditionally filled with boys.ā]
The massive gap in participation opportunities between boys and girls is solely due to boysā football. Equality in athletics can never be achieved without separate girls football teams. At the end of the day, women and girls deserve the same opportunities as men and boys, especially when it comes to sports. Iām going to continue fighting for that until we have it.
Whatās a surprising misconception youāve encountered about women playing football?
The biggest misconception about women playing football is that they donāt want to. Which is entirely false ā there are so many women who want to play the sport but are discouraged because they donāt have the opportunity. Thatās what Under Armour and I are working to solve: to increase access to the sport and establish pathways for aspiring female football players of all ages.
Do you still play football [in college]? If so, how?
Because Iām in school and a student-athlete, I donāt have as much time as Iād like to play football. That said, I practice and play in student leagues when I get the chance!
What would you like to accomplish during college and after graduation?
I really just want to continue fighting to make football more accessible for female athletes. I started when I was nine and see no reason to slow down, especially now that I have the support of Under Armour. I hope to one day see womenās football leagues across all levels of play, more female coaches and refs in the sportā¦Thatās what I want my legacy to be. When people hear my name, I want them to think: āOh, yeah. She changed the game for women in football.ā