Women's tackle football gives female athletes opportunities in a game dominated by men

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Football players were running, throwing, catching, blocking and tackling — with a steady stream of trash talk between whistles — as the sun set on a recent night in the Motor City.

Other banged-up athletes stood or sat on benches behind each sideline, ailing from a torn calf and a torn knee ligament, unable to play in a game watched by about 100 fans cheering for the home team and 11 people backing the visiting squad from Canada.

While the action and the setting was not unusual, the gender of the players did stand out.

“We do it all just like the boys,” Detroit Prowl punter Kelly Bernadyn said. “But we're women.”

Women have been playing tackle football for decades, mostly under the radar, but two league commissioners believe it will be part of the next wave as interest in women's sports grows.

When Detroit beat the MIFA All-Stars of Ontario in an American Women's Football League game at Allen Park High School, daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers experienced the joy of big plays and camaraderie along with the pain of inevitable injuries.

After a postgame handshake line along the 50-yard line, the black-clad Prowl and the visitors in pink gathered on the visitors' sideline to celebrate their sisterhood and shared goal of growing the sport.

“You just begin to love these girls around you," said MIFA All-Stars quarterback Rachel Vesz, who is from Toronto and played rugby at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. “And, you all support each other.”

Despite the inherent risk of injuries in football, women are choosing to join pay-for-play leagues for the love of the game and to inspire young girls to play a game traditionally limited to men.

“I use my own health insurance when I am injured, same with all of my other teammates,” said Bernadyn, who works as an EMT and fitness instructor. “But at the end of the day, it’s worth every dollar I’ve paid.

“It’s worth every ice pack I’ve needed to use, every day of rest, every cast, every boot, because I know that I’ll be able to line up on that football field again.”

The Prowl lost their bid for a second straight AWFL title with a first-round loss in the 14-team playoffs that wrap up with the league's second championship game July 12 at West Charlotte High School in North Carolina, streaming on BAWLLR TV. The AWFL has 18 teams from eight states and Canada.

Two leagues, meanwhile, have raised their profile enough to have women competing for championships on ESPN2 in high-end venues.

The Women’s National Football Conference will have its title game on the network for the first time on Saturday. The Washington Prodigy will face the Texas Elite Spartans in Frisco, Texas, at the Dallas Cowboys’ Ford Center, which has about 12,000 seats.

“When someone sees the WNFC for the first time, it opens up the possibilities,” said Odessa Jenkins, founder of the WNFC. "It's like, 'What a minute. Women play tackle football?' There's no greater joy than to open up new possibilities for yourself and others.”

The WNFC does not pay salaries, but does plan to give a total of $20,000 to the players on the championship team and did budget to pay weekly and season award winners thanks in part to financial support from Adidas, Dove and Riddell. The Women’s Football Alliance does not pay players either, but some of their costs are covered by sponsors such as Wilson, ticket sales and licensing rights.

The WFA will be back on the network for its championship game on July 26 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, where MVP jerseys from previous title games are on display.

“This new contract with ESPN is a testament to the high level of football played on the field contributing to the growing popularity of our league on a national and international level,” WFA Commissioner Lisa King said.

Former WFA players include Katie Sowers, who became the first woman to coach in the Super Bowl as an offensive assistant in San Francisco, and Jennifer King, who was the first Black female full-time coach in the NFL in 2021 when she was Washington's assistant running backs coach.

Jennifer King, who is on the WNFC advisory board, hopes the sport's top two leagues find a way forward together.

“When you have two champions, you want to know who's the best,” she said. “It would be great to have one Super League, but it would be really hard to do because both of the leagues are far down the road.”

Sowers agrees.

“A big issues is, everyone has an idea of who can do it best,” she said. “We need to come together and create one powerhouse league that has more resources.”

The NFL is investing a lot in flag football, which will be an Olympic sport in 2028. The league did give women's tackle football a platform at halftime of the Pro Bowl in 2020, when 22 players from the Utah Girls Football League were featured in a scrimmage.

Former NFL offensive tackle Roman Oben, the league’s vice president of football development, applauded the commitment women are making to play tackle football.

"It’s been really commendable to see the growth of the sport,” Oben said. “There isn’t a formal partnership with the NFL, but there have been discussions with a few of the leagues. We’re aware these women are paying to play for pads, insurance, equipment and travel and they should be applauded.”

Flag football, Jenkins said, will ultimately have the same effect on women's tackle football as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have had on the WNBA and the sport will benefit from the increased interest in girls and women playing basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball and more.

"Flag football is putting the ball in the hands of more girls and women than ever and it's going to create the greatest pipeline in the history of the sport,” Jenkins said. “Women have been playing tackle football for 60 years, but now we have brands everyone knows stepping up to alleviate some of the financial pressure on our players and that's what it is going to take to move it past a club level.”

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Detroit Prowl's Milana Stromile celebrates an interception against the Lansing Legacy during an AWFL women's football game in Allen Park, Mich., Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Lansing Legacy's Alexis Johnson stands on the sidelines with her arm wrapped after being injured in an AWFL women's football game against the Detroit Prowl, in Allen Park, Mich., Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Prowl quarterback Allie Gorcyca, right, stiff arms Lansing Legacy's Ashley Graham during an AWFL women's football game in Allen Park, Mich., Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Prowl's Sydney Hebel holds her hand over her heart during the playing of the national anthem at the start of the AWFL women's football game against the Lansing Legacy, in Allen Park, Mich., Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Prowl's Danyelle Kerse, framed by a teammate wearing football breast cancer knee high socks, warms up before an AWFL women's football game against the Lansing Legacy, in Allen Park, Mich., Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Prowl's Bugg Patman applies face paint to Jahi Tillman, as they prepare for an AWFL women's football game against the Lansing Legacy, in Allen Park, Mich., Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Prowl's Toya Shinaul, from left to right, Kelly Bernadyn, Sydney Hebel, Jasmine Hamilton and Allie Gorcyca walk out for the coin toss at the start of an AWFL women's football game against the Lansing Legacy, in Allen Park, Mich., Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.

Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.

Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

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A witness told the AP that the streets of Tehran empty at the sunset call to prayers each night.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, addressed “Dear parents,” which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.

Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.

It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.

State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.

China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”

He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”

Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”

He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.

Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.

“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.

However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”

The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.

The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.

Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.

“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.

Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.

Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.

A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.

Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.

Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.

The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.

Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)