SPRING HILL – For the first time in Tennessee history, a girls flag football student-athlete has signed to play collegiately.
Summit High School’s Eva Siemen inked with Campbellsville University of Kentucky at a ceremony Wednesday in Spring Hill.
Siemen competed in the inaugural season of girls flag football this past spring in a two-year pilot program for the blossoming sport between Williamson County School and the Tennessee Titans.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered ✍️ Eva Siemen is the first girl in the state of Tennessee to sign a letter of intent to play girls flag football at @CVilleFlagFB! pic.twitter.com/Fc9KnMBvcW
— Titans Community (@titanscommunity) August 3, 2022
Of the nine teams that represented all WCS district schools, Summit finished as the No. 6 seed entering May’s one-day postseason tournament hosted at Nissan Stadium. The Spartans closed the regular season 2-6 overall with three losses decided by a touchdown or less. They suffered a narrow 15-14 setback against the Yellow Jackets in the tournament’s opening round.
Summit flag football coach Tae Martin called Siemen a leader for his team.
“She’s coachable, respectable and just a great team leader,” Martin said Wednesday.
Campbellsville will compete in its first season of women’s flag football in 2023. The Kentucky school is one of four that announced it will join the NAIA women’s flag football league after its second season.
“I know she will do great things for us,” Campbellsville coach Chris Kidwell said Wednesday. “We are so super excited to have Eva. She hits all the characteristics.”
Twelve NAIA teams in partnership with NFL Flag competed this past season with Ottawa, Kansas, earning the national championship in May. Ottawa defeated Thomas, Georgia, 24-20 for the title at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“With the Atlanta Falcons, females and flag (football) are so crucial to us because we really want to see the game grow at the grassroots level,” said Falcons community relations manager Danielle Renner afterward.
Kidwell said the sport’s popularity is “going to explode.”
“In three to five years, you will see this all over the United States,” he said. “It is so strong and big in the southern states.”
Regional states like Florida, Alabama and Georgia are among the state’s that have sanctioned the sport. Tennessee seems primed to become the sixth to do so.
In June, the Titans announced Metro Nashville Public Schools will also produce a girls flag football league next season in conjunction with the NFL team and on the heels of the inaugural successful season with WCS schools. That league will feature 15 schools in its first year, the Titans said.
Ravenwood won the first girls flag football title in May, topping Page and Fairview for the championship.
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