Friday, June 21, 2024, 3:30 PM, Roxie Theatre
Digital Screening Room streaming encore
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| The Herricanes |
In the late 1970s, there were more than a dozen professional women’s full-tackle American football teams in the United States, in what became the National Women’s Football League. Title IX, mandating equity between male and female students in any school receiving federal education funding, passed in 1972, but was mostly not yet put into practice in athletics. One of the teams was the Houston Herricanes.
The daughter of one of the Herricanes decided to make a documentary about the history and legacy of the team. (Today there are professional women’s full-tackle American football teams in Europe, as well as quite a few in the United States, including the Houston Energy.) She combined extensive interviews with the players and coaches, prominent sports figures including Billie Jean King and Dan Pastorini, and more, with archival footage of some of the NWFL games, news coverage (especially groundbreaking female sports journalist Anita Martini), and recreations of memorable moments of some of the games.
I grew up in Texas, mostly doing my best to ignore “the religion of Texas football,” but, even though I was a teenager at the time, I don’t think I ever once heard of the NWFL or any of the teams. However, this documentary is more about the determination of a group of women to overcome “Girls can’t do that!” and play the sport that they loved. It’s certainly an important bit of history for any football fan, but also an important testament to some women who blazed a trail for all sorts of female athletes to follow. It is a MUST SEE — and if I’m saying that about a foo-ball movie, you know it’s a good film!
Oh, and by the way, the team with the longest undefeated streak in U.S. professional football history? That would be the Toledo Troopers.
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