By: Annaliese Gumboc
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in July, the girls begin to warm up on Farrington High School’s Kusunoki Field.
The heat from the midday sun is intense, while Hawaiian reggae drifts from a nearby speaker. Families and friends gather around the bleachers or under pop-up tents, sipping drinks from coolers and enjoying meals from aluminum trays.
On the field, teams are easily distinguished by their uniforms: one group wears white jerseys adorned with gold hibiscuses, while another sports black jerseys with a bold pink ‘808’ across the chest. Some players fasten their headgear, others stretch in circles or run drills across the iconic Governor ‘G.’ They range from as young as six years old to high schoolers, with some traveling all the way from Kona. Each one is united by a single goal: to play football.

This all-girls, five-on-five flag football tournament is the latest event organized by Wahine Era Athletics Hawaii (WEAH), which has previously held a clinic with QB Impact Hawaii and a speed and agility training day, all designed to empower female flag football athletes.
Dawny Jones, who launched Wahine Era Athletics Hawaii in April, is on a mission to expand football opportunities for girls in the islands. Her vision reaches far beyond the local field—she imagines a future where Hawai‘i’s women compete at the collegiate, professional, and even Olympic levels in football. Determined and passionate, Jones is committed to building a strong foundation that will elevate female athletes and pave the way for future generations.
“[The girls] are absolutely stunning to watch. They’re humble, they’re athletic. They can throw the football like bullets,” said Jones. “There’s girls on this island that belong on the national team right now…Hawaiʻi just hasn’t had the exposure.”
In a pinned Instagram post, WEAH captures the heart of its mission with bold conviction. “Wahine Era Athletics is an ALL WAHINE run organization dedicated to providing female athletes equal opportunities for athletic advancement,” the post declares. “…for our girls in Hawaiʻi, mastering their craft of flag football starts here! They can compete, and WILL compete on the same platforms as their brothers.”
American women’s football has made unprecedented strides, yet significant challenges remain. As the sport ventures into uncharted territory, opportunities and resources for young female athletes are still lacking. The push for gender equity in football is far from over.
Fortunately, Dawny Jones is no stranger to a fight.
The Start of WEAH
The Wahine Era’s story began with Jones’ daughter, Pretty.
From an early age, Pretty showed natural athletic ability. Even at just 18 months old, Jones recognized her daughter’s potential. As Pretty grew, she became a shy but athletic young girl. However, there was one hurdle—she hated sweating and struggled to stay committed to any sport.
Pretty wasn’t interested in volleyball and only mildly enjoyed basketball, but it wasn’t enough to keep her playing. Then, around age 12, Jones introduced her to flag football.
Having watched her brother play, Pretty was familiar with the sport. But she was hesitant to join a male-dominated field where, as a girl, she couldn’t blend in. The idea of always standing out made her uncomfortable, and she was especially nervous about training alongside boys, who often played rougher and more aggressively than she liked. The fear of not fitting in or keeping up weighed heavily on her mind.
“You know boys, that’s their platform, that’s their environment, that’s their house,” said Jones. “And [my daughter] would be so sad…she would cry.”
Jones knew there must be something she could do—she had experience in football and had been coaching soccer for over two dozen years. She thought to herself, How do I help my daughter?
Jones prayed for an answer. One Sunday morning, she woke up with the solution: Start a football organization for girls and women. That way, her daughter wouldn’t be alone—she’d be surrounded by other girls who had faced the same challenges on the field.
Within a week, Jones had a vision and a name: Wahine Era Athletics Hawaii.
Growing up in Waiʻanae
Jones had dreams of playing football ever since she was a young girl growing up in Waiʻanae. During the 1980s and ’90s, Waiʻanae football was at its peak. The Waiʻanae Seariders were an OIA powerhouse, competing in 11 Hawaii Prep Bowl championships between 1980 and 1998. Waiʻanae’s own Kurt Gouveia played in the NFL, winning Super Bowl rings with Washington in 1987 and 1991, which further fueled the community’s pride. At the local level, youth football leagues flourished, with fields packed with eager young players and crowds of supportive fans.
Jones saw football unify her community. Through football, she said, “A community can come together and agree that…we all want the same results, we all want the victory. We all stand together.”
On the gridiron, adrenaline surged, and glory was hard-earned. In the stands, fans roared, sharing in the highs and lows with a collective hope for victory. Jones often wondered what it would feel like to be at the heart of those moments—competing on the field, with her family and community rallying behind her, celebrating her triumphs alongside the team.
“I wanted that. To see the joy on my father’s face, my mom’s face,” she said. “Whenever we were watching an NFL match or [Pop Warner]…as a kid, I was like, ‘That’s so cool, look at all these people watching all these kids play. I want to know that feeling.’”
Youth football was thriving across Hawaiʻi, but there were no programs designed for girls. Undeterred, Jones and her friends took to the streets, playing on asphalt or any open space they could find. They imagined a future where women could represent their communities in tackle football.
“Why can’t we play?” Jones wondered.
The Rough Riders and Beyond
Throughout her childhood and teenage years, Jones never let go of her passion for football.
“I loved playing that game, whether I was a kicker, receiver, or running back,” she recalled. “I was pretty small, but I just loved the idea of playing football, catching a ball, and running with it.” Despite her size, the thrill of the game and the joy of competition kept her hooked.
Jones entered high school with a steadfast determination to play tackle football, enrolling at Roosevelt High School, a significant distance from her hometown of Waiʻanae. Despite the absence of female players on the roster, she was resolute in her goal to join the Rough Riders’ varsity football team.
Competing against a formidable class of all-male athletes, Jones achieved what few women had done before: she successfully tried out for the team and became the Riders’ kicker. She proudly claims to be one of the first female students to join a varsity football team in Hawaiʻi.
As a Rough Rider, Jones played alongside local standouts, including the trio known as the three Chads: Chad Owens, Chad Kapanui, and Chad Kalilimolu. These players, along with their coaches, embraced her talent and commitment, fostering an environment of acceptance and camaraderie.
Jones cherished her time with the Roosevelt team, harboring high hopes for her future in football. Like many of her teammates, she aspired to continue playing at the collegiate level and beyond.
After high school, several Rough Riders went on to join NCAA and NAIA football programs, with some even advancing further in their careers. Chad Owens, for instance, spent over a decade playing in the NFL, AFL, and CFL, showcasing the wealth of professional opportunities available to male players. (Owens is set to be inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame in September.)
However, as a young woman, Jones faced a starkly different reality, with her options for the future significantly limited.
“Back then, that connection of having resources to get to college and to try out…It was hard,” said Jones. “It was very slim to none.”
Instead, she joined her college soccer team, making the roster as a walk-on.
When a semi-professional woman’s league arose in Hawaiʻi, Jones seized the chance to play football again. That venture was short-lived, however, and the clock eventually ran out for her football aspirations. But Jones’ love of the game never faded.
A Historical Overview of Women’s Football
Like Jones, countless women across the nation grow up surrounded by the world of football.
The sport permeates both home and school, which are the two primary spheres of life for most adolescents. Each year, football narratives unfold across millions of household screens, school spirit events, and dinner conversations. A girl might attend her brother’s games or sit on the couch during her dad’s watch parties—regardless of the context, she witnesses the powerful emotions that players and fans experience. For many young women in decades past, this created a disheartening dissonance: here was a sport at the heart of the community, while they remained relegated to the sidelines.
Historically, based on the assumption that women would not—or should not—play American football, opportunities for women have been scarce, often limiting or entirely absent.
For example, aiming to remedy the exclusion of girls in 1967, Pop Warner created a cheerleading division rather than open new football opportunities. Their website recounts: “But football was for boys and girls felt left out. Cheering from the stands wasn’t enough. They wanted, somehow, to share in the excitement and fun down on the field. So Pop Warner introduced a new activity: cheerleading.”
While the optics of women’s involvement in football have vastly improved, the underlying mindset persists today. Generally, women are not expected to enjoy gridiron football, leading to young women often missing out on the support and resources that their male counterparts receive. This gap in opportunities is not always due to intentional exclusion but often stems from a lack of consideration for female athletes. As a result, female-oriented football opportunities are less likely to be recognized and realized, from childhood all the way to the professional level.
Despite the sport being characterized as a male activity, female interest in football is neither new nor anomalous, especially in Hawaiʻi. For instance, in December 1922, Maui High School hosted a football match between teams of female students, marking one of the earliest recorded girls’ games in gridiron history. Both lineups consisted of 11 players, including key positions like quarterback, halfback, and fullback, as reported by the December 15 edition of Maui News.
“When the game started, there were many grins and winks exchanged among the boys,” the article noted. “This didn’t last long, however, for they soon saw that the girls intended to play real football.”
The match was successful enough to warrant a second game soon after, with the Maui News proclaiming, “Now that the girls have had one taste of football, they will have another.”
Nationwide, women’s football leagues began appearing throughout the 1920s and ‘30s but faced widespread backlash. According to SBNation, the L.A. Parks and Recreation superintendent declared, “It is quite obvious that football (regardless of rules) is wholly unsuited to the physiological and anatomical limitations of girls.”
The sentiment that football was unsuitable for girls was pervasive, as reflected in the remarks from the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Parks and Recreation head, who expressed concern that “a mannish tomboy type of girl should not be set up as an example of American womanhood.” This attitude contributed to restrictions that led to a decline and stagnation of women’s football in several states.
However, the landscape began to change after 1972 with the passage of Title IX, co-authored by Hawaii Representative Patsy Mink. This landmark legislation prohibited sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Title IX, now known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, ensured that girls had the opportunity to participate in school sports, paving the way for the progression of women’s athletics across various disciplines.
Despite this legal protection, the effects on football were slow to manifest. Although public education teams could no longer bar girls from trying out, the sport remained overwhelmingly male-dominated. Female players often found themselves competing against boys who had greater physical stature and access to better training resources. For those few who made the team, being the only girl on a large roster could be isolating and discouraging, deterring many talented young women from pursuing their passion for the sport.
“Because girls wanna play, they have to accept that they have to play boys,” said Jones. “It’s always been co-ed, one or two girls…For us, we accepted it because, hey, we wanna play.”
The Wahine Era
The overwhelming response to the debut event of Wahine Era Athletics Hawaii (WEAH) highlighted the significant demand for female football opportunities. Originally, the organizers planned to limit participation to 100 girls, but the surge of interest—over 250 sign-ups—forced them to increase capacity to 160. This adjustment proved necessary, as despite challenging weather conditions, over 100 girls and 50 spectators attended the clinic, demonstrating the enthusiasm and eagerness of young girls to engage in football.
For Jones, the success of the inaugural clinic underscored the urgent need for a dedicated space where girls could participate in the sport. She recognized that many girls were not only interested in football but were also eager to share the experience with their peers. This realization reinforced her commitment to creating a supportive and empowering environment for female athletes, where they could develop their skills and confidence while being part of a community that shared their passion for the game. The event marked a pivotal moment in her journey, as it validated her vision for Wahine Era and solidified her mission to provide opportunities for girls in football across Hawaii.
“It was just an environment where…we were waiting for it, but somebody had to go and do it,” said Jones.
Creating an all-female space for female football players is essential to fostering equal opportunity, Jones believes. A comfortable environment brings out the best in the girls and encourages others to play.
“Don’t get me wrong. I know athletic, elite players that go against boys and love it,” said Jones. “They come out swinging even harder when it’s girl against girl…It’s a different feel, different environment. It’s a different vibe…They feel powerful.”
Speaking to participants at WEAH’s July tournament, the benefit of the program is obvious.
“With the girls, we’re all kinda on the same page, and it’s fun playing with other people who like to play football, so you’re not the only one,” said one player.
“It’s giving the girls a shot to play the sport of football,” said Coach Penuelaruetti Pasese, who has a daughter playing. “They’re having fun with it…It’s come a long way.”
Since the program began, Jones has seen a change in her own daughter, Pretty.

“It boosted her confidence,” said Jones. “I had to tell her, you’re the WEAH girl. You’re the reason why other girls are gonna come out and get out of their shell, because there’s girls that are like you too. They want to play, they want to be athletic. They want to show who they are and be strong and be part of an intensified match…It’s an environment that…as a girl, I wish that I had when I was growing up.”
Women’s football has indeed progressed significantly since Jones’ childhood. With Hawaiʻi officially sanctioning girls’ flag football on August 1, 2024, a new chapter has begun, mandating that all 44 state public schools offer the sport. This historic move makes Hawaiʻi the 12th state in the U.S. to take such a step, reflecting a growing recognition of female athletes in a traditionally male-dominated arena.

The decision came in light of significant changes to the Olympics, particularly after the International Olympic Committee announced in October 2023 that both men’s and women’s flag football would be included in the 2028 L.A. Olympics. This opens up exciting opportunities for girls to aspire to compete at the highest level on a global stage, reinforcing the idea that female athletes belong in football.
Jones is a firm believer that local girls possess the talent to compete internationally, but she recognizes that proper support is crucial for them to reach their potential. Through WEAH, she aims to provide that essential backing. While the program has primarily focused on facilitating playing opportunities through training clinics and tournaments, Jones has ambitious plans for its future. She envisions expanding WEAH’s offerings to include financial and professional resources, such as scholarships and connections to college recruiters, which would significantly enhance the pathways for aspiring female athletes.
Her most ambitious vision is the establishment of a Wahine Era warehouse—a dedicated space where young girls can train, study, and hone their skills. By creating this environment, she is not just fostering athletic talent but also building a supportive community that empowers young women in sports. In many ways, she is working to construct the world she wished she had access to as a young athlete, paving the way for the next generation of female football players in Hawaiʻi.
The Fight for Equal Opportunity
Jones is a fighter.
At age 26, Jones faced the battle of her life when she was diagnosed with cancer. In what should have been her prime, when she was extremely athletic and healthy, she found herself watching her body deteriorate. After initial chemotherapy treatments, the cancer became more aggressive, metastasizing from her stomach to her brain.
“When you end up in that situation, you have to…ask yourself, ‘Do I give up, or do I keep fighting?’” Jones said. “I have always chosen to keep fighting, from when I was a little girl playing against boys. And when I was diagnosed with that cancer, I chose to fight.”
As she lay close to death, she turned to prayer.
“I was definitely on my deathbed,” she recalled. “But the man upstairs, I asked him, ‘If you give back my life, I’ll give you mine,’ and He definitely showed up for me.”
Jones believes this experience is why she is alive today: to advocate for women in athletics. “He’s using me as a tool to help other female athletes,” she explained.
While her dream of playing professional football has shifted into the past, her commitment to fighting for other girls’ futures remains unwavering. She is determined to ensure that, one day, a football player’s gender will have no bearing on their success, and that young women everywhere can pursue their passions on the gridiron without limitations.
