For more than 20 years, Dr. Jen Welter has been blazing a leadership path for women in sports, most notably in football. The first-ever female assistant coach in the NFL in 2015 with the Arizona Cardinals, she also enjoyed a decorated career as a professional women's football player and was also one of the first-ever female position players on a men's team when she played running back for the Texas Revolution in 2014.

She now channels her passion for women's sports and the game of football through her coaching and popular flag football camps, known as the Grrridiron Girls Camps, which she brought to William Woods last week.

Gridiron Girls event on new football field

"When I started Grrridiron Girls, there wasn't yet an opportunity for girls to imagine that they could change their lives through football, just like boys could," said Welter, whose camps have helped hundreds of young girls across the country find success both on and off the field since the first one in 2019. "For every girl, and every boy as well, who comes out here to take part, you can start to see a route for empowerment, confidence and education."

Welter's Grrridiron Girls camp, open to girls and boys from kindergarten up to high school, took place on the new turf surface of the university's North Campus Activities Center, which will be home to the first-ever women's Flag Football and men's tackle football teams in William Woods history that are about to kick off their inaugural seasons.

And Welter, a stickler for attention-to-detail like all successful football coaches, couldn't help but notice how The Woods stood out from other colleges that offer women's Flag Football.

"William Woods really leveled it up when they built this multi-use field, because it already has the lines for the women's Flag Football marked right on it," she said. "Most times we do these camps, there has been a question of 'could the girls use the boys field?' But William Woods has set the standard by already having the lines for the girls' game permanently marked on the field, illustrating that it is just as much the girls' field as the boys. That's a great statement about the university's commitment to women's sports."

Gridiron Girls event on new football field

Indeed, William Woods will be the only college or university in the state of Missouri to have an on-campus stadium for Flag Football when the Owls begin their historic first season in early 2025.

"I think William Woods, with its history of having been a women's college first, is once again showing that it can lead from the front by adding Flag Football as the university grows," Welter said.

A point echoed by WWU Athletic Director Steve Wilson.

"To open our new field with an individual of the caliber of Dr. Jen Welter was a real thrill for William Woods University," Wilson said. "It was a great introduction to one of the fastest-growing sports in the country for the youth of mid-Missouri, and was a great way to kick off a new year and a new tradition of Women's Flag Football at The Woods."

Despite temperatures and humidity that climbed past 90, the activity never wavered last week as Welter put nearly 100 young girls and boys through the paces on the university's blazing new playing surface, learning new plays and maybe even learning a few of life's lessons. And with sweat dripping down her face and boundless energy, Welter - a woman on a lifelong mission to impact young female athletes across the board - wouldn't have had it any other way.

Gridiron Girls event on new football field

"There's never been a better time for girls in football," she said. "The game is exploding, and hearts, minds and doors are opening every day, including right here at William Woods University. I have chills thinking about how this new field was built for both flag and tackle, literally putting men and women on the same playing field. It was huge, Grrridiron Girls was here for it, and it was an honor to help put the ball in their hands and dream in their heart."

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