UEL has continued their efforts to make sports more inclusive for students, with the introduction of a wheelchair cricket team early last year and more recently the debut of a mixed hockey team.
The UEL mixed American football team who are in their sixth competitive year, have also enabled the breakdown of gender stereotypes with two females competing on the team for the last two years.
The traditionally male dominated sport has seen females rise in the ranks of the sport in recent years, with linebacker Phoebe Schecter, who captained the Great Britain women’s American football team being named as the first female coach in the NFL in 2017. More recently, Toni Harris who was the subject of a Super Bowl advert for Toyota RAV4 became the first female skill-position player to land a full college football scholarship.
American international student, Tatum Etchegoyen-Springer states that despite American football being the most popular sport in her native country, there was leeway for females to participate in the sport in the UK and credits UEL for giving her the opportunity to play:
“Growing up there were no teams for me to play on that were mixed. They’re (UEL) taking a step in the right direction, having a mixed football team and making it so welcoming for me to join.”
Quarterback, Facey also praised UEL for giving equal opportunities to all individuals to play the sport:
“It’s great to give everyone the opportunity and give everyone the chance of competing for UEL, regardless of whether you’re male or female”.
