Girls Play Football Too, And They’re Good At It!

Over the years, we've heard and seen the occasional story about a girl who plays football. A few years back, a kicker for the Willamette University Bearcats near Portland became the first female to kick a field goal and extra point in a college game. It's been done in high school. But right here in the Tri-Cities, there's girls playing all sorts of positions, including quarterback.

The Kennewick Grid Kids are a youth football league that's been providing tackle football games for kids over the last three decades. There's 8 'organizations' each with five levels of teams, from 6-7-8-year olds up through 12. Each of the groups has teams E through A, from youngest to biggest. Colts, Rams, Tigers, Coyotes, Huskies, Bears, Eagles, and Panthers. Games are played at Eastgate field, right next to the Fairgrounds on Saturdays.

This year, there's five girls competing, and doing well. The Coyotes E squad has a girl who's arguably their best player, a running back and linebacker. The Colts organization has four girls, one on the C squad, one on D, and TWO on the E team. They join a number of girls over the years who've played for various teams in the league.

The Gideon sisters Lexi and Kylie,  are on the C and D teams, have had older siblings who played. They're #2 and #26 in the photos. They're key players on their teams. Fast, and hit hard!

On E squad #48 Harley Worster, and #44 Katie Weichman play several positions. Katie is an offensive and defensive lineman who routinely knocks over her opponents, while Harley has played center, quarterback, and running back. She's even scored a touchdown and a conversion.

Grid Kids continues the tradition of girls playing, and doing it well! So don't let the boys tell you football isn't for girls.  These kids will tell you the girls can perform just as well and tough as the guys do, and they've always been more than welcome on any of the teams that play in the league. Click here for more details about Kennewick Grid Kids.

Here's a video of Harley at quarterback, with the running back going in for a score.