Earlier in the year the Colorado High School Activities Association approved girls flag football to be a sanctioned fall sport. Adding flag football to the schedule brings many opportunities for female athletes, with one being the chance to be active during each season of the school year.
“If you didn't play softball, volleyball, or cross country there was nothing for you to do in the fall. Now we've got football,” said Air Academy head coach Barry Clark.
One of the Kadet seniors, Misha Edwards, says flag football in the fall helps her stay ready for her winter and spring sports where she dives and runs tracks. Edwards explained that competing in the added fall sport gives her an alternate workout as opposed to spending an entire offseason solely in the weight room.
Looking at the bigger picture, these young women are hoping to continue growing women’s sports as a whole and bring in more community support. Football is traditionally known to be a male-dominated sport, but by taking the field this season they are aiming to show that women are on an equal playing field as men.
“Right now it's like girls are supposed to play certain sports. Now that we have football and other sports that normally aren't seen as girl sports, it helps grow our community,” said Air Academy senior Lexi Pangel.
Many of the seniors on the team at Air Academy shared their thoughts on wishing this became a sanctioned sport earlier in their high school careers. Now they just hope to have a fun season and help continue to grow both flag football and the support around women’s sports.
The growth has already begun as it went from a handful of teams testing it out in the spring to having over 40 participating schools in the state. Barry Clark shared that he hopes to see the growth reach a point where each school will have a team for all three levels.
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