Noelle Bates is sophisticated.

Like most women, the Orem corporate executive and entrepreneur loves shopping for jewelry, shoes and has even recently enjoyed a book that explains a branch of theoretical physics called string theory.

She considers herself a "girlie" girl.

But Bates also has another passion that is a growing phenomena in the United States and worldwide -- she and millions of other women are crazy about football. To provide a better resource for female fans to learn the game, keep up on NFL players' personal stories and news, and get up to speed on jargon like "shoot the gap," Bates created a new Web site called First & Girl (FirstandGirl.com). It debuted in August.

A public relations and marketing professional with MarketSplash of HP (formerly LogoWorks) in Lindon, she grew up in Los Angeles in a family of Brigham Young University football fans. Her grandparents still make the trek up to Utah for each Cougar home game.

Bates was more or less a casual fan until she lived and worked in San Francisco after earning a communications degree from BYU. She began regularly watching games with her male co-workers and friends.

"I wouldn't say I understood it very well until I got into college," she said. Working in the Bay area for four years, "I had a lot of time on my hands. I would say I became a real fan post-college."

Taking in games on Sunday afternoons, she began to admire former Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden and became a convert to the NFL and all things pigskin. Joining her co-workers and friends in fantasy football leagues -- where the actual performance of personally "drafted" players is charted weekly -- helped her learn the rules and many technical nuances of the game.

Bates has since married and now has a 20-month-old daughter, but that doesn't mean she's stuck in the kitchen while her husband, Steve, watches the big game.

"The joke in the family is that you'll find me on the couch watching football and he'll be making the sandwiches for Anna," she said.

And while she's into the action and excitement of professional and college football, another huge draw for her was learning the inside story about the players, their wives, their lives and adversities many of them had overcome.

For example, Warrick Dunn, a stand-out running back on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is among her favorites. As a teen, his mother, a police officer, was gunned down in front of a convenience store, Bates said.

"He sort of raised his brothers and sisters. He's just an amazing personal story of perseverance, dedication and hard work and a good guy," she said. Through a charity Dunn set up to provide homes for single mothers, the NFL player has had homes built for 80 single mothers and their children.

"All this personal interest stuff makes you feel more attached or more engaged," Bates said. "I felt that was lacking. There was nowhere to see it."

And it's not just men watching Monday Night Football anymore, she said. According to NFL statistics, 45 million women watch league games, and 15 million of them consider themselves avid fans.

"More women watched the Super Bowl than the entire audience for the Academy Awards," Bates said.

But it's difficult for a woman's husband or boyfriend to explain the game while they're concentrating on the game themselves. That's where First & Girl comes in.

Clarke Miyasaki, the vice president of business development with Skullcandy and a former business colleague of Bates, agreed to invest in First & Girl because he believes in her and also because he thinks it's a winning concept.

"It's such a great idea and everyone is excited about it. PR is the key and she's the best in the business," Miyasaki said. "Noelle is definitely a force to be reckoned with."

Bates has added a boutique shop to First & Girl with custom jewelry and clothing she has designed for fashion-conscious women who don't necessarily want to wear an NFL jersey or war paint to work or a game but still want to root for their team.

Bates said her intention isn't to feminize the sport, but to help female fans gain a better understanding of football so they can enjoy it as much as their guys do -- and possibly more. During the testing process for First & Girl, women who visited the site were thrilled to learn things they thought they might not ever understand. Her sisters are included among the site's newest fans.

"They said, 'Oh my gosh, I've learned more in the last three minutes than I've learned in three years,' " she said.

She said she hopes to add more features and tools in the near future and even expand the site's scope to include NCAA football teams and players.

"I find myself perpetually unsatisfied with it. Every time I look at it, I want to change things. I think this will always be a work in progress," Bates said.