I'd sneak a peek at some other league and do whatever they did.

When I say "avoid using 'female'" (specifically as a noun to mean "woman") it's not an absolute. The gist is just to not come off like a fedora-tipping twat. Sometimes it's used intentionally to objectify or demean "females" in general, or using the "woman/female" distinction as some sort of pointed transphobic shtick.

It's still a perfectly cromulent word as long as it doesn't get neckbeardy.