Lake Catholic and Kirtland concluded the spring flag football season in the championship game at FirstEnergy Stadium on May 2. The teams won’t have to wait until next spring to play again.
The Cougars and Hornets will meet at halftime of the NFL Hall of Fame game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders in an exhibition game on Aug 4.
NEO Flag co-founder Bob Berwald has worked through multiple months to set up the chance for the teams to partake in the festivities of Hall of Fame weekend. The sport last season got major backing from the Browns, which included supplying teams with jerseys for last season.
Per the #Browns website, the girls from @kirtlandFB & @LCCougarFB will square off in more @neohioflag action during halftime of the @ProFootballHOF Game between the Jaguars & Raiders on August 4th!
Congrats to all on such a great opportunity! 🚩🏈https://t.co/drDCdUE3u4
— Kirtland Hornet Stat Crew (@hornetstatcrew) July 28, 2022
“We started the process in mid-May,” said Berwald. “The Browns asked me if we would consider having the teams down there and I thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase the sport itself. We’ve been helping get other schools involved and before we knew it we had a handful of new teams last spring. The Browns have been a huge help as well with the exposure and helping this game happen.”
Kirtland has won the championship in the first two seasons of the sport, and coach Tiger LaVerde has seen his players take to the game quickly. Football success is nothing new for LaVerde, as he’s led Kirtland to seven state titles on the boys side.
“The girls are very excited for the chance to play in this game,” said Leverde. “I sent out a text to them and
almost immediately, everyone responded with a resounding ‘yes’. It’s going to be a cool event and they’ve had so much fun playing flag football for the past two years and this is really the icing on the cake.”
In those two championship games, the Hornets have matched up with Lake Catholic. The teams themselves have matched up twice in the regular season, as well, with the Cougars winning both of those matchups.
Coach Dan Brugh’s team had a similar opportunity before but he is excited for the team to have another. He knows that these types of showcases are few and far between and each one is just as important as the other.
“Last spring was the first season where players represented their school,” said Brugh. “We then had the goal of making it a club school and we got to play the playoffs on their field. The Browns football lines were gone and we had girls flag football lines on the field instead. Last fall we were possibly going to play at halftime of the Thursday night game when the Browns played the Broncos but with COVID still in full swing, that threw a wrench in everything then. But to now be able to play in this game at the halftime of the hall of fame game is a great thing for them.”
All three have seen the sport grow and know that a showing at this level will continue to spark interest in girls that want to play. To have a game on that stage is a big step for the sport and all three agree.
“I was talking with the Lake Catholic athletic director the other day and we had incoming freshmen asking how to get involved in the sport,” said Brugh. “We have girls playing other sports. A lot of the girls are also participating in
sports like softball, club Volleyball, track and others. Girls were doing two or three sports at a time but still were able to run complex offenses last season and understand stuff very well.”
While flag football is in its infancy in Northeast Ohio, it has a strong presence in the southern United States, as colleges in Tennessee, Florida and Missouri offer the sport and scholarships. Currently no colleges in Ohio offer the sport.
But the trio hope that the continued presence and interest in the sport help spark interest in every level. While participating in events like the Hall of Fame game, LaVerde and Berwald know that this will continue to spark interest in the sport
“The fans can see that there is an option out there for the girls that are interested in the sport,” said LaVerde. “That’s the most important thing. We had some girls that are really good and The News-Herald posted some highlights on Twitter and I got a few emails from college flag football coaches to recruit our girls.”
Berwald added: “It gives it a level playing field. Having games at these bigger venues helps people see that this isn’t a sport that’s going away any time soon. We’re working on growth and this is a showcase for that type of thing. It’s going to be a great experience and there are going to be even more people that want to get involved.”
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.
