1
00:00:02,150 --> 00:00:08,626
American football has replaced
baseball as America’s favorite sport.
2
00:00:08,661 --> 00:00:11,618
Football has traditionally been
3
00:00:11,653 --> 00:00:15,905
played by men — big men who like to hit.
4
00:00:15,940 --> 00:00:19,538
However, in the past few years,
5
00:00:19,573 --> 00:00:25,051
there has been an increase in the
number of women’s football leagues.
6
00:00:25,086 --> 00:00:28,443
The women play by the same rules
7
00:00:28,478 --> 00:00:33,795
and with the same level of
physical contact as the men’s sport.
8
00:00:33,830 --> 00:00:39,660
Tarsha Fain is team captain of the Baltimore Nighthawks.
9
00:00:39,695 --> 00:00:41,998
“I feel women can do anything a man can do.
10
00:00:42,033 --> 00:00:44,230
The same way they get out there and hit,
11
00:00:44,265 --> 00:00:45,253
we get out there and hit too.”
12
00:00:45,288 --> 00:00:48,886
Fain and team owner Tanya Bryan were part
13
00:00:48,921 --> 00:00:54,310
of the first ever women’s World Championship last year.
14
00:00:54,345 --> 00:00:58,345
The American team — with Fain playing
15
00:00:58,380 --> 00:01:03,142
and Bryan serving as team manager — won the gold medal.
16
00:01:03,177 --> 00:01:05,933
“To be the first, the first time it was done,
17
00:01:05,968 --> 00:01:09,751
and be part of it, you know,no one else can ever say that.
18
00:01:09,786 --> 00:01:12,289
So it’s just a wonderful feeling.I’m so proud of that.”
19
00:01:12,324 --> 00:01:16,151
About ten women’s professional football leagues
20
00:01:16,186 --> 00:01:19,956
have been formed in the United States in recent years.
21
00:01:19,991 --> 00:01:25,110
Many have either joined with other leagues or failed.
22
00:01:25,145 --> 00:01:28,313
But the sport continues to grow.
23
00:01:28,348 --> 00:01:32,638
Ghoncheh Mossanen is an offensive
24
00:01:32,673 --> 00:01:34,659
specialist for the Nighthawks.
25
00:01:34,694 --> 00:01:38,647
She has played football for 28 years.
26
00:01:38,682 --> 00:01:43,428
Mossanen says the sport is her therapy.
27
00:01:43,463 --> 00:01:46,759
It is what she looks forward to the most.
28
00:01:46,794 --> 00:01:50,904
“I feel there’s a transformation when
I go from putting on my gear
29
00:01:50,939 --> 00:01:52,770
and stepping on this football field.
30
00:01:52,805 --> 00:01:54,938
It’s a huge mental transformation.”
31
00:01:54,973 --> 00:01:59,958
Mossanen moved to America from Iran as a child.
32
00:01:59,993 --> 00:02:04,452
She remembers the first time
she ever played football
33
00:02:04,754 --> 00:02:07,163
— at a game in her neighborhood.
34
00:02:07,198 --> 00:02:09,573
“I remember getting the phone call from my cousin saying
35
00:02:09,608 --> 00:02:11,151
‘come on out,we need one more person to play.’
36
00:02:11,186 --> 00:02:12,724
I didn’t know what it was.
37
00:02:12,759 --> 00:02:15,079
I had never played the game and I remember going
38
00:02:15,114 --> 00:02:16,604
out there and just fell in love with it.”
39
00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,159
Most of the other players on the Nighthawks
40
00:02:20,194 --> 00:02:23,255
have also played since they were children.
41
00:02:23,290 --> 00:02:29,281
Most played unofficially or in non-contact leagues.
42
00:02:29,316 --> 00:02:32,624
But for team owner Tanya Bryan,
43
00:02:32,659 --> 00:02:37,892
women’s football was a completely new experience.
44
00:02:37,927 --> 00:02:40,980
“It’s funny, I didn’t even
realize the sport existed for women.
45
00:02:41,015 --> 00:02:43,358
And I got a phone call from a friend of mine
46
00:02:43,393 --> 00:02:46,152
and she said there was an opportunity
to own a team in Baltimore.
47
00:02:47,751 --> 00:02:50,737
And I thought it sounded really exciting and I said yes,
and four years later here I am.”
48
00:02:51,307 --> 00:02:54,024
When Bryan bought the team
49
00:02:54,592 --> 00:02:58,574
she did not expect to make money right away.
50
00:02:58,609 --> 00:03:04,676
After four years, she is no longer losing money.
51
00:03:04,711 --> 00:03:09,167
But Bryan says what was most important to
52
00:03:09,202 --> 00:03:14,071
her was giving young women a chance to play ball.
53
00:03:14,106 --> 00:03:17,534
“Most of the time as women growing up we’re told,
54
00:03:17,569 --> 00:03:19,374
you know — not to be aggressive,
55
00:03:19,409 --> 00:03:23,371
and you know not to be assertive. And it’s nice to have an outlet where you can come
56
00:03:23,406 --> 00:03:26,350
somewhere and let all of that out.
57
00:03:26,385 --> 00:03:31,238
You know you can be loud. You can hit somebody. You can just let it all go.
58
00:03:31,273 --> 00:03:33,005
And you know I think it’s really,
59
00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,666
it’s really healthy, you know.
60
00:03:35,701 --> 00:03:38,549
Great athleticism is required for football
61
00:03:38,584 --> 00:03:41,349
and the team camaraderie is just fantastic.”
62
00:03:41,384 --> 00:03:45,508
The teamwork was great in the team’s recent
63
00:03:45,543 --> 00:03:50,210
game against the Philadelphia Firebirds.
64
00:03:50,245 --> 00:03:55,327
After a slow first half, the Nighthawks score ...
65
00:03:55,362 --> 00:03:59,665
and hang on for an 8–0 win.
66
00:04:00,694 --> 00:04:03,886
“It’s elation! I mean the team deserves it.
67
00:04:04,035 --> 00:04:07,172
We’ve been playing hard.It’s amazing.
Now it’s our chance to make the championship.”
68
00:04:07,207 --> 00:04:11,256
The Nighthawks did not win the championship.
69
00:04:11,291 --> 00:04:16,971
But, they say having a chance to play this traditionally
70
00:04:17,050 --> 00:04:22,321
men’s sport against other women
is itself a victory.