Sam Gordon helps found first U.S. girls tackle football league

Sam Gordon, the 12-year-old girl who made waves for her highlight tapes showing her dominating an all-boys tackle league, is a founding member of the Utah Girls Tackle Football League.

Sam Gordon, the 12-year-old girl who made waves for her highlight tapes showing her dominating an all-boys tackle league, is a founding member of the Utah Girls Tackle Football League.

The league is believed to be the first girls tackle league in the United States. It is currently made up of 50 fifth- and sixth-graders and features four teams. A three-game schedule will be played using eight-player football rules. 

“This league was created in response to a high demand from the girls to play the sport in a league of their own,” UGTFL president ​Crystal Sacco said. “The league reached its maximum participants within five days of the announcement.

Gordon said her friends were "so excited to play football they said they couldn’t sleep the night before orientation."

The league begins play on May 23.

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[ESPN]

- Molly Geary