Women's gridiron football, more commonly known as women's tackle football, women's American football, women's Canadian football, or simply women's football, is a form of gridiron football played by women. Most leagues play by similar rules to the men's game. Women primarily play on a semi-professional or amateur level in the United States. Very few high schools or colleges offer the sport solely for women and girls. However, on occasion, it is permissible for a female player to join the otherwise male team.
Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor soccer, as it is most often known in the United States and Canada, was originally developed in these two countries as a way to play soccer during the winter months, when snow would make outdoor play difficult. In those countries, gymnasiums are adapted for indoor soccer play. In other countries the game is played in either indoor or outdoor arenas surrounded by walls, and is referred to by different names.
Arena football is a variety of eight-man indoor gridiron football. The game is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game that can be played on the floors of indoor arenas. The sport was invented in 1981, and patented in 1987, by Jim Foster, a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League. The name is trademarked by Gridiron Enterprises and had a proprietary format until its patent expired in 2007.
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in various sports. They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues.
American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America.
Carlos Rosado Vallejo is a Mexican gridiron football coach and former wide receiver who is the head coach of the Reyes de Jalisco of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA). He played in NFL Europe for the Barcelona Dragons and the Amsterdam Admirals from 1998 through 2004. He also played preseason with the New York Jets during 2003.
Liga Nacional de Fútbol Americano (LNFA) is the name of the top gridiron league which operates in Spain. It was first founded in 1988 and reorganized in 1995 after the merge of several previous Spanish competitions.
American football is a form of gridiron football and the most popular sport in the United States. In the United States, the game is most often referred to as simply "football". Football is played in leagues of different size, age and quality, in all regions of the country.
In the United States and Canada, the term professional football includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football. In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country. Currently, there are multiple professional football leagues in North America: the two longest-running leagues are the National Football League (NFL) in the U.S, and the Canadian Football League (CFL) in Canada. American football leagues have existed in Europe since the late 1970s, with competitive leagues all over Europe hiring American Imports to strengthen rosters. The Austrian Football League and German Football League top division are known as the best leagues in Europe. The Japan X-League is also a strong league that has a long history since 1971. The NFL has existed continuously since being so named in 1922.
Professional gridiron football is one of the most popular sports in Canada. Unlike most countries, but paralleling its counterpart, the United States, football in Canada refers to the gridiron-based game developed in both countries over the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and not to association football.
The Gridiron Developmental Football League (GDFL) is a low-level American football minor league based in Memphis, Tennessee, using the franchise model. The GDFL acts as an umbrella group that encompasses teams from across the Contiguous United States.
The North American continent is the birthplace of several organized sports, such as basketball, charrería/rodeo, gridiron football, ice hockey, jaripeo/bull riding, lacrosse, ollamaliztl, mixed martial arts (MMA), racquetball, ultimate, and volleyball. The modern versions of baseball and softball, skateboarding, snowboarding, stock car racing, and surfing also developed in North America.
Minor league football, also known as alternative football or secondary football, is an umbrella term for professional gridiron football that is played below the major league level.
Mexican American Football was a professional American football minor league in Mexico, founded in 2018. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league was also known as FAM-YOX for the 2022 season.
Héctor Andrés Zepeda Hernández is a Mexican gridiron football offensive lineman for the Galgos de Tijuana of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA). He played college football at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), where he won two national championships with the Borregos Salvajes Monterrey. He was selected to participate in the National Football League (NFL)'s International Player Pathway Program (IPPP) in 2022 and 2023. Zepeda was also drafted by the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in the first round of the 2022 CFL Global Draft.
