While flag football originally started as a recreational activity for American soldiers during the second World War, the National Football League has taken this game and brought it all across the United States.
The New Orleans Saints are helping the George County school district set up a girls team right here at the high school. Their goal is to have 12 schools in the Gulf Coast region participate in a season this spring before opening it up to any school interested next year. Football coach James Ray is very excited about the new program, believing that this will help generate interest from the student body.
“It was something that our superintendent Mr. Whitney, Mr. Menton and myself thought would be a plus for our school to add a program like that,” Ray said.
One of the goals for NFL Flag, the organization behind this push for flag football in schools, is to give all kids a chance to play football, no matter their age, gender, size, or experience. Ray is hoping that this new sport will reach a new group of athletes they have not yet seen.
“It’s not that we don’t offer enough girl sports, but they’re really specific sports,” Ray said. “I think this will tap into a group of girls that didn’t have to start when they were six years old playing this sport and would be interested in doing that.”
Plenty of students who are already athletes are interested in flag football, however. Sophomore Alexis Beach is a runner on the girls cross country team and is eager to join, believing that this would not only help her stay in shape outside the cross country season but that her experience in cross country will help her in said new sport.
“It would just help me stay in shape for cross country and honestly it’s just a good extra curricular,” Beach said. “It’s just a lot of running but I feel like it would help with the stamina for running in football.”
Another reason why athletes are attracted to this sport is because there is less of a risk of injury than regular football. There is no denying that football can be a dangerous sport. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, football has a 13 percent injury rate out of 1,000 players, with the most common injuries being to the head and face.
Unlike regular football, flag football has no tackling, which eliminates the main cause of injury in the sport. Freshman Annabella Standridge says that she would prefer playing flag football over standard football because of this.
“There’s less chance of getting injured permanently to where I can’t play anymore sports at all, like tearing my ACL or meniscus,” Standridge said.
Overall, both the students and staff are excited to see sports options expanded and what new opportunities a sport like this could bring to our school if we are selected.
“It’s just more options for sports, like, if you aren’t feeling any of the other ones,” Beach said.
“The more people you have involved in athletic activities, CTE programs, it’s just more excitement around the school,” Ray said.
