In a meeting with Section 9 athletic directors over the last week, a handful of schools showed interest in adding girls flag football.
A pilot program launched by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association is already underway across the state. There are eight schools competing this spring in neighboring Section 1. While the conversation is ongoing, at least two schools in Section 9 are getting on board in their own way.
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Kingston has started its own intramural girls flag football team and has been practicing with the intention to play an extramural game at the end of the season against another school district outside of the section, Kingston athletic director Rich Silverstein said.
“We’re extremely excited, it’s the buzz of this community,” Silverstein said. “I’m thrilled to offer another sport for our high school girls. I think it’s exciting.”
Kingston girls flag football intramural head coach Mike Dittus received an email from Silverstein, indicating the school was interested in starting girls flag football as an intramural with the possibility of transitioning into a varsity sport if interest was high enough. He accepted the position.
And Dittus has the resume for the job. He has been a volunteer with a local youth flag football league, Mountain Valley Youth Flag Football, for a decade and has served as president for the last five years.
Recently, Dittus has seen more and more girls get on board. The Mountain Valley program is co-ed.
Dittus credits assistant coach Keith VanRoy, who is the defensive coordinator on the boys varsity football team, saying “he is an outstanding football coach.” Both coach the boys flag football teams as well.
Dittus was unsure what kind of response the Kingston team would inspire. He held an interest meeting in March and more than 40 girls showed up. There are consistently 30 girls at each practice.
“What it means to me is seeing student-athletes who never had a chance to play the greatest game that there is, and now all of a sudden they are, it’s pretty special,” Dittus said. “When I see girls come running over from the school building to the turf after eighth period and they’re hustling to get their cleats on and their flag belts on and start throwing footballs around, it’s a sport that they had been deprived of for their entire lives. They’ve been excluded from football. The student-athletes who have come out for flag football are the smartest, most coachable kids I have ever had the privilege to coach.”
Middletown athletic director David Coates said there is a “rich tradition” of flag football in the city, noting the district would like to get in the game.
“Middletown will be working throughout the rest of this year and into next year on creating a team with the hope of having our first flag football team ready to go in the spring of 2023,” he said. “Having the opportunity for the girls is extremely important. For me, as the athletic director of Middletown, we always want to try and provide another opportunity for kids to connect with the school, connect with the community and create relationships. It’s extremely important for us in Middletown.”
There are six sections in New York that participate in a girls flag football partnership with the NFL, with the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and New York Giants supporting. Section 9 is not part of the pilot program, but they are still making waves.
“After this season is over, I fully anticipate that we will have four teams in four different sections that wish to continue for the 2023 season,” NYSPHSAA assistant director Todd Nelson said. “And if that is the case, we will go to our governing body, our central committee in July and ask for emerging sport status.”
Section 9 Athletic Council executive director Greg Ransom shared positive sentiments for the sport as well.
“It’s just a great opportunity for girls,” he said. “They want to play football and if we have enough schools interested in doing it, we’ll get it started and we fully anticipate that this will grow.”
MKramer1@th-record.com
Twitter: @MKramerTHR
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.
