On Feb. 5, the IHSA board of directors approved girls’ flag football as a sport for the fall of 2024. With seeing major involvement in girls’ powder puff, a lot of participation is expected in this newfound sport.
“I think it is great, another opportunity for students to take part in athletics. I am always a proponent for that,” Howard said.
Christopher Villafuerte, OH kinetic wellness teacher and coach, has been a proponent of the sport. He shares his excitement to be involved in girls’ flag football.
“I feel excited that they made girls flag football an approved IHSA sport. I think it will be a great opportunity for girls to be involved in something special,” Villafuerte said. “It is catching a lot of traction very quickly, so I think there is a very bright future for girls flag football.”
When IHSA approves a new sport, it doesn’t just get implemented into each high school immediately. It is added district by district, as individual schools see fit.
“The district policy for adding sports is a multi-step procedure, one of those being that it needs to begin as a club, which it will be next year as far as I know,” Howard said.
OH is working to establish girls flag football as a club for the 2025-26 school year. With success as a club, it is hoped to officially become a sport for the following school years.
“I would support that by helping to get started with a summer camp so we can easily transition the club right into the fall of next school year,” Villafuerte said.
With high participation in the annual Powderpuff game, OH coaches are hopeful that girls will be interested. OH Junior Kiyah Chavez expresses her excitement for this new addition.
“Flag football is super fun and can be pretty entertaining, so I’m really glad they passed it. I know a lot of girls who were really hoping that everything would work out so that it would pass, so it should be pretty successful,” Chavez said.
Making students aware is the first step in this process, and OH Athletics is working to get it started.
“We would advertise it to the school and community, hold some clinics and “open gyms” to grow interest, hire a coach, build a schedule, etc.,” Howard said.
For success in this new club/sport, OH Athletics is just looking for participation. With the amount of attention raised, it is hopeful about what may happen in the future.
“This is a very special opportunity to help jumpstart something that could potentially turn out to be extremely successful,” Villafuerte said. “We are still very early within this process, but are very excited to see what the future holds.”
My name is Miranda Cook, and this is my second year being a part of 42Fifty! I am a senior at OHS, and I am on the varsity cheer team. I enjoy taking photos and hanging out with my friends in my free time, and I cannot wait to continue my career in journalism!
My name is Jaylene Tinajero Garcia, and this is my second year being a part of 42fifty. I am a senior in high school. I am on the varsity cheer team. I love taking photos and videos of nature in my free time. I am really excited to start my career as a journalist.
This is a great article! And I hope the district turns flag football into a sport soon— I know I would have tried out if we had it as an option.
I LOVE IT THIS IS SO COOL