BUAFL Women's Five vs Five
June 9th 2012

The inaugural womens football competition in England was played out at the University of Hertfordshire Saturday between teams from Portsmouth, Southampton and Hertfordshire.

In the male dominated world of “American” Football that is played in the United Kingdom, history was made Saturday June 9th when the first Women’s 5-on-5 National Championship was held at the University of Hertfordshire, just outside of London.

In an event organised by the British Universities American Football League, it confirmed the increase in popularity of the sport across the Atlantic and was yet another sign of the expansion of the sport.

In the country where all the sports talk revolves around soccer and cricket, football is expanding outside the clique of fans that follow the NFL as a religion. The university football league is thriving and now, with the weekend’s championship, the women’s game has taken a giant step forward.

Played between three teams from the Universities of Hertfordshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, what the teams lacked in numbers, they made up with enthusiasm.

With each team playing their opponents once, the Hertfordshire Tornados took the honours with their two impressive wins. Hertfordshire’s team of 10 players enabled them to swap players when necessary.

The Southampton Stags, with the smallest squad of just five players, did well to defeat the Portsmouth Destroyers before falling victim to fatigue and the might of the well-coached Hertfordshire team. The Southampton players were required to play both offense and defense and against a superior squad it took its toll with Hertfordshire winning 44-8.

The head of British Universities Women’s Football and secretary to the International Federation of American Football, Dr Elesa Zehndorfer, was delighted with the competition.  When the event was first announced, she remarked, “Hopefully, if we set this up right and we expand the right way, the women’s game will become an increasing part of the football landscape in Great Britain."

During the presentation, Dr. Zehndorfer announced that a women’s team would be travelling to Sweden for an international game. A just reward for some of those players who participated in the weekend’s competition.

Dr Elesa Zehndorfer presenting the winners medals to Hertfordshire and one very happy Charli Taylor.

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