1920s Women's Football at Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota is named for a 17th-century Swedish king who transformed his country into a military power, earning the sobriquet "The Lion of the North." Like their Scandinavian forebears, the people of Minnesota have long practiced a combination of pragmatism and progressivism. Surviving long, hard winters required men of sturdy stock to exert themselves in ways not required in southern climes, an expectation extended to their womenfolk, as evidenced by the football-playing women at Gustavus Adolphus of the 1920s.
Here and there, women in other social circles took up the gridiron game, but tended to play the touch variety.
The Golden Gustie women tried the touch game in 1923, but it proved too tame for the Lionesses of the North, so they opted to play tackle football in 1924. Whether playing touch or tackle, they could not find a non-Gustie women's team to play. Even the Dean of the Golden Varmints at the University of Minnesota considered women playing football horrific.
Unable to compete intercollegiately, they did so intramurally, forming two teams, the Longs and the Shorts. Members of the men's team acted as coaches until they skipped too many of their own practices, which led the men's varsity coach to forbid his team members from leading women's practices.
Still, the women persevered, saying little but enjoying hitting the snot out of each other. Their efforts attracted attention in newspapers nationwide, which is why you are reading about them 101 years later.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find the score of the 1924 women's game and the Lionesses of the North do not appear to have played past that season. The 1926 yearbook, which covered the 1924 season, only had two references to the women playing football. One indicated that Inez Benson was the best player on the teams, and a small picture appeared in a collection of campus images.
Whether the Gustie women were discouraged from playing tackle football or they tired of the game is unknown. Either way, they moved on to other pastimes, playing only intramural basketball and swimming the following year.
Other stories related to the limited role of women in the football of days gone by include:
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Fun dates!!!
Good stuff, I’ve had the good fortune to officiate some Women’s semipro football out here in LA. Enjoyable!