It’s been a cool spring in Arizona, perfect weather for some girls flag football.
Phoenix Xavier Prep held Senior Night on its turf last week against Chandler. Stands were filled. There were big, athletic plays, fans cheering, an electric atmosphere, and a thrilling overtime finish with Chandler winning 34-27.
The girls flag game, which started gaining footing in the Valley more than a decade ago on the club level at high schools, will embark on a new path in the fall, when the Arizona Interscholastic Association begins the first season of girls flag football as an offically sanctions sport.
There will be 56 schools divided into two divisions in the fall, when the AIA will hand out two state championship trophies for the first time in flag football. The higher division will be comprised mainly of schools who have already played club flag. The second division will be mianly for new schools joining in what has become a popular sport not just in Arizona but in states all over the country.
The sport will be played in the same season as boys tackle football, which draws more attention than any other high school sport throughout the year. That has raised some concerns over whether it’s a good move to put the girls’ game in the same season, where it could be overshadowed by the boys.
Among the questions still lingering: How will games be scheduled? Will there be enough officials and coaches? Will they complement each other or compete against each other?
“I think girls flag football is great,” longtime Peoria Centennial football coach Richard Taylor said. “Not sure, at least at our school, with a lack of space, where everyone would practice in the fall.”
Hamilton girls flag football coach Matt Stone, one of the biggest proponents of the sport in Arizona, said the AIA has taken a positive approach toward planning flag football as a sanctioned sport. He said AIA Director David Hines has trusted the input of coaches and administrators.
“And as a result of that, we have a better, more well-organized sport for the girls than any state currently has. That’s something I’m proud of,” Stone said.
What is the best season for flag football?
Girls flag football club teams have been playing in the spring. Boys football coaches, along with the tackle football players, have been helping the girls teams in the spring. In the fall, their time is filled with their own boys’ teams.
Hines said the AIA Executive Board, comprised of school administrators, approved flag football for the fall, because, “We want to align the flag season with traditional football so we can have our championships tied to the football championships.”
Still, there are differences of opinion out there.
“When we started developing the sport in 2006 and 2007, it was always in the spring,” Stone said. “We wanted initially to have boys from football help with the girls. And that just wasn’t possible in the fall.”
Queen Creek Casteel flag football coach Rae Black said her son, a running back on the fall boys football team, has been helping with the girls team in the spring, along with some of his teammates, doing everyting from instructing, passing out water bottles and running the chains during games.
“It matters to me, but it doesn’t matter more than the girls being able to play for the school,” Black said. “When we presented it to the AIA, we presented it from the spring. Everything was done with the standpoint of the spring. They’re the powers that be, and they’re going to put it where they see fit.
“To pair it up with the boys championships, I thought that was a cool idea. My son is a senior at Casteel next year. If my girls team goes, and his team goes, I would love that.”
Black noted, however, that not all schools have the field space for practices to accommodate flag in the spring along with boys tackle.
“Some will have a small problem, and some will have a very big problem. I don’t want any varsity coaches to feel any resentment, like, ‘We’ve got to fit in the girls.’ I would hope it wouldn’t create that,” Black said.
In addition to field space, there are other issues, Stone said: Stadium availability and game times, especially when summer heat still is a factor in late August and September.
“If we’re talking about playing the same time as boys, how do you structure the games so that you can have multiple games on the same day?,” Stone said. “I still say that’s not possible. Say the boys (JV game) start at 4 o’clock on a Thursday and the girls take the field at 7; That is a doable scenario but who is going to sell a 4 o’clock to a boys team in the heat? If you flip the scenario and tell the girls to play at 4, in what world is a varsity sport supposed to be played before a JV?”
Schools will need to assure equal treatment of both boys and girls, he said.
“I understand the situation,” Xavier Athletic Director Sister Lynn Winsor said. “No matter which season it is in, it’s going to be hard to negotiate. But I think the athletic directors are so smart we can work it out.
“If we have to evaluate it after the fall, and if we have to adjust, we can do that.”
Confidence in making it work
There is also the issue of officials. Will there be enough for both sports?
There has been a national shortage of refs mainly due to the abuse they get from fans and parents, and, in recent years, the AIA has had to schedule more games on Thursday and Saturdays in order to have enough officials to work games.
Mesa Public Schools Athletic Director Tommy Eubanks said his schools already have had a club flag season in the fall and it worked out great.
“Had no issues,” he said. “It will be new next year with the amount of teams playing but I am confident in the AIA and the ability to create a schedule that will work for everyone and confident in the state’s athletic directors to make to implement this new sport at their sites.”
Maricopa tackle football coach Tevin Rutherford thinks adding flag as a sanctioned sport is a positive move, but he sees the potential for scheduling conflicts, but noted boys and girls teams have worked that out with other sports.
“Scheduling games will require that same level of cooperation amongst coaches and the athletic department. This is no different then what boys and girls soccer and boys and girls basketball deal with every year,” Rutherford said.
Arizona will be one of nine states playing girls flag football in the fall. Of those nine, Georgia has the most schools involved with 240 but that season starts in mid-fall and runs to mid-winter. Alabama has 57 schools that play in the fall.
“Girls being able to play footbal is awesome,” said Goodyear Desert Edge co-head football coach Mark Carter, who leads the program with his twin brother Marcus. “I know there are tons of girls out there who think about playing and now get the opportunity to do so.
“Obviously, with them playing in the fall, there are going to be some logistical issues, depending on the size and space of the schools. There’s a lot of people who make a lot more money than I do who I trust will figure all that out.”
Michael Patterson, an assistant football coach at Phoenix Brophy Prep, is excited about leading Xavier Prep’s girls flag football team in the fall, when he’ll be crossing over from Brophy to sister-school Xavier to coach both. It is set up, he said, that Brophy practices in the morning and Xavier after school to make it work.
Xavier won’t have to work out field issues in the fall because other fall sports at the all-girls school won’t be needing it.
Patterson is not only a huge proponent for girls having an opportunity, but he’s getting a chance to coach his daughter, Mikayla, a freshman on Xavier’s spring club team that formed a team for the first time.
Patterson said the plan appears to be having girls play on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the fall. “We’re a varsity sport and we’re playing at 4 o’clock, so that’s a dilemma,” Patterson said.
Patterson said the reception at Xavier has been great. Xavier has its own turf football field with goal posts. So many players want to be part of the program that the private school plans to also field a junior varsity team in the fall.
“There are girls who finish varsity basketball or soccer who are on our team,” he said. “There are volleyball players. A lot of girls are quitting their sport to do flag. They love flag.”
Xavier senior quarterback Jenna Burch, the team captain this spring, whose brother plays football at Brophy, said she was happy to at least have one year on the club level to play before graduating. But she can see how girls will have to choose between sports in the fall.
“I’m graduating so that’s not a problem for me, but for a lot of the girls that is an issue,” she said. “We’ve got some girls on track, some volleyball. We’ll see how it works. But all of us have fallen in love with it.”
College opportunities
There are college scholarships available for girls flag football players. There are 17 NAIA schools from 10 different states that offer women’s flag football, which is played in the spring. That became sanctioned two years ago. It hasn’t been recognized by the NCAA yet as sanctioned sport. But Winsor sees that just being a matter of time before the NCAA sanctions it, especially with Nike now pumping in money to high schools for girls flag football.
Black said she believes if a girl has a great desire to play to go with great academic success, she can get a scholarship in the sport.
She wants to promote it this summer, trying to get more moms to learn the sport, get them to become coaches.
“There are plenty of varsity coaches who will teach them,” Black said.
The NFL and Nike have gotten behind girls flag football. During the week of the Super Bowl played in the Valley, the AIA was presented a $100,000 check from Nike to go to schools that are jumping into flag football. Hines said the money is being used to pay for schools’ uniforms.
Riczer Desvaristes, who is the manager of youth football for the Arizona Cardinals, told The Arizona Republic in Frebruary that they want to give access to all girls to play football across the country, adding that “the Cardinals have been a big supportor of what we’re doing and excited to support the sport.”
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter@azc_obert
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
