In just the sport’s second year, GHSA flag football is quickly on the rise.
DODGE COUNTY, Ga. — “The ring is coming for us,” Dodge County senior Anaya Showers said on the first day of the 2021 flag football season in Georgia.
Just two months later, the ring indeed did come for them. Now, only one question remains — what is that ring going to look like after all?
“We wanted it all blinged out,” senior Hope Sheffield said. “We wanted it to look the best out of everybody that has a ring. And we just want it to catch their eye.”
The Indians have caught the eye of the entire Peach State, winning just the second flag football state championship ever in the GHSA, but the first football state title ever for the county.
Senior Annie Jones says she felt like she was playing forever as she played three overtimes.
“I was like, ‘where is the end?’ So as soon as she ran it over I was like ‘oh my gosh I can’t believe it.’ It’s very surreal.”
It only began as a team eager to take advantage of a new opportunity — but quickly turning into so much more.
“Starting out I was like, ‘oh this will be something fun I can do when I don’t have anything else to do.’ I don’t think I realized how serious it was going to get,” Jones said.
It was a full-circle moment for head coach Clint Sanders, who coached a flag football championship team, as a senior at Auburn University in 1991.
30 years later, he was finally able to utilize that experience.
“I was approached by a resource officer and he said they’re fixing to start girls’ flag football,” Sanders said. “And I went and talked to the athletic director and said, ‘hey if we’re gonna start this, I’ll be in charge of it. I don’t mind.'”
The Dodge County Indians will forever be remembered as state champs, but because of it, they’ll also be remembered for something much bigger than themselves.
“They’re all in with football now,” Sanders said. “I’ve had lots of people throughout the community after the state championship say ‘I want to play next year.'”
As for the Indians’ state championship rings, the school is currently working on raising funds. If you would like to help, donations are currently being accepted via Venmo under the username @GirlsofFall, or by check sent to Dodge County High School (350 Pearl Bates Ace, Eastman, GA 31023).
All checks should be addressed to “Girls of Fall Boosters.”
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.
