The Evening Sun | Norwich Girls’ Flag Football Concludes Its First Season

NORWICH

–

Coach

Tom

Rose

and

the

2022

Norwich

girls

flag

football

team

look

back

at

its

inaugural

season

in

the

NYS

flag

football

pilot

program.

With

a

brand-new

sport

introduced

to

Section

IV

schools,

including

Norwich,

it

was

a

learning

curve

for

many

girls

as

they

had

never

played

before.

However,

Norwich

came

out

of

its

first

ever

season

with

a

championship.

Coach

Rose

was

very

impressed

with

his

first

season

coaching

the

team.

“We

were

competitive

each

week.

We

started

off

slow,

losing

our

first

four

games,

but

rebounded

and

won

our

last

three

to

end

the

season

and

win

the

silver

bracket

championship

game,”

he

said.

“Going

into

the

season

we

knew

that

in

order

to

be

successful,

we

needed

to

learn

from

each

experience,

good

or

bad,

or

improve

from

week

to

week.

The

group

of

13

girls

on

the

team

were

very

dedicated

and

wanted

to

learn

and

get

better,

which

they

did.”

Each

team

in

Section

IV

made

the

playoffs

this

year

and

were

placed

into

two

different

brackets,

gold

and

silver.

Norwich

played

in

the

silver

bracket

against

Horseheads,

Union-Endicott,

and

Chenango

Valley,

teams

they

had

played

previously

in

the

regular

season.

After

defeating

Horseheads

at

home

in

the

final

game

of

the

regular

season,

they

won

38-12

in

the

first

round

of

playoffs

before

taking

on

Chenango

Valley

in

the

finals.

Chenango

Valley

defeated

Norwich

earlier

in

the

year

19-7.

Coach

Rose

knew

the

championship

would

be

tough,

but

Norwich

came

back

from

a

20-6

deficit

to

win

it

24-20.

“We

knew

it

would

be

a

hard-fought

game,

but

the

girls

never

gave

up,”

he

said.

“The

girls

were

extremely

excited

to

win

but

also

disappointed

that

our

season

had

come

to

a

close.

The

way

that

they

had

been

playing

the

last

four

games,

they

knew

that

they

were

playing

at

a

high

level

and

were

finally

playing

to

their

best

abilities.”

Rose

also

appreciates

senior

Addyson

Whaley

for

her

efforts

this

season.

She

played

an

important

role

in

the

center

position

where

Quarterback

Cameron

VanHouten

could

trust

her.

“She

volunteered

at

the

beginning

of

the

year

and

I

explained

to

her

that

without

her

good

snaps,

we

wouldn’t

be

successful,”

Rose

said.

“She

worked

really

hard

throughout

the

season

to

perfect

her

snaps.

She

was

also

able

to

catch

a

couple

passes

from

her

position

to

get

us

some

conversion

points

as

well.

Without

her

dedication

to

her

position,

we

wouldn’t

have

been

as

successful

as

we

were.”

With

just

one

senior

leaving,

the

Norwich

flag

football

program

is

set

to

have

its

12

underclassmen

players

return

next

season

along

with

more

interested

players.

Rose

shares

his

excitement

for

the

next

few

years

of

the

program

and

is

looking

forward

to

returning

next

year.

“​Girls

flag

football

in

NY

looks

like

it

is

here

to

stay

for

future

seasons,”

he

said.

“At

the

NYSPHSAA

meeting

in

July,

the

sport

is

going

to

be

presented

to

be

recognized

as

the

next

emerging

sport

in

New

York.

Over

the

next

few

years,

it

could

get

phased

into

a

fully

sanctioned

sport

with

a

culminating

NYS

championship

like

every

other

sport

that

the

state

offers.

With

the

success

that

we

had

and

the

sport

had,

I

am

confident

that

there

will

be

more

girls

coming

out

to

play

for

each

school,

section,

and

all

of

New

York

State.”

Congratulations

to

the

2022

Norwich

Girls

Flag

Football

team

and

best

of

luck

to

Addyson

Whaley.