BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It’s never been done in Western New York, but Villa Maria College has been working behind the scenes to bring girl’s flag football to compete at the collegiate level.
“This is just something to really be a part of history,” said head coach Keith Wing.
A sport that skyrocketed in its first full season at the high school level received an overwhelming amount of support from the community.
“In the Western New York area alone, there were over 30 high school teams this year, and most of the rosters were quite large.”
Villa Maria’s Athletic Director and Buffalo native Desmond Randall saw this as an opportunity to benefit girls of all ages long-term.
“I have a nephew who plays flag here, and he has little girl’s on his team that are good, and they take it seriously,” said Randall.
Villa Maria’s staff are viewing girl’s flag football in Western New York becoming as big as it is in the South.
“So, we said, why not be the first to get out in front of it and pioneer this thing. “
The team will be having tryouts in the fall with the hopes of building near 40 players.
“Our staff is already out of on-the-road recruiting. They want to be able to get something going off the ground in the fall.”
Players who are interested will have more than one opportunity to participate in summer showcase camps.
“It’s a great chance for them to learn more skills and a great chance for the coaching staff to see these players,” said Wing.
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.
