Dozens of girls turned out for a flag football camp in Struthers on Tuesday to prove the stereotypes wrong.

Santajah Douglass, of Youngstown, said those stereotypes include that girls can’t play football. 

The camp — Grrridiron Girls — was created by NFL linebacker coach Dr. Jen Welter.

“I want these girls to know they can do anything,” she said. “I think football is a great medium for that because when I was playing, I remember hearing all the time, ‘Football was the final frontier for women in sports.’ So I thought if we could do that, we could do anything because this is supposed to be a place that’s just for boys.”

The girls ran drills, taking turns as linebackers, quarterbacks and centers.

Coaches include former NFL players and coaches like Devin Smith, Michael Zordich and Woodie Pippens.

“I’m really hoping to help out and teach them as much as I can, and also really guide them and let them know they can accomplish anything,” Smith said.

The first Grrridiron Girls camp had a great turnout.

“It’s just great to see so many females out there that want to play, who are interested enough to jump on a bus, come out here to a camp and learn to play,” Zordich said. “It’s exciting for the sport and for female athletes in general.”

It’s excitement the Youngstown City Schools badly need. Across the district, girls participate in sports at a rate of 25 to 33 percent of what the boys are doing.

Youngstown hopes to increase that number through programs like this.

“We jumped at the chance to be part of this,” said Rick Shepas, with Youngstown City Schools. “One of the things we are looking to do is make things more exciting for our girls and get them more involved.”

“Youngstown, especially, has a very strong football tradition,” Zordich said. “It’s important to put that out to females. You never know, there might be some female athletes in this area that can really play this game. Who could make something of this? Who knows where it’s going to go?”

Studies show playing sports leads to better academic achievement but it’s the increase in self-confidence that the coaches here are focused on.

“The message we are going to send to girls is, ‘You are empowered to be whatever you want to be and do whatever you want to do,'” Pippen said.

“Through hard work and the right training, they can do anything,” Welter said. “There’s no game they can’t play in and there’s no field they can’t be on.”

And today, these Grrridiron Girls conquered this field.