2024 September InMaricopa Magazine

SPORTS

Raising the flag High school girls flock to sport skyrocketing in popularity

Opportunities are exploding at the high school level. Alaska recently became the ninth state to sanction the sport with about 20 others running pilot programs. Florida has sponsored flag football for 20 years with 360 schools and more than 10,000 participants. Nevada has three classes of state champions. Other states with sanctioned programs are Hawai’i, California, Georgia, Alabama and New York. Arizona flag football was adopted by 54 schools in two conferences in 2023. The number of teams is expected to double this year. As for the impact of Title IX that Byerly cited: Fewer than 300,000 girls participated in high school athletics in 1972; that number was 3.2 million five decades later. Maricopa to make its mark Tyler Miller, chair of the social studies department at Maricopa High School, played high school football and previously coached the school’s Powderpuff team that played one game a year as a fundraiser. He advocated for several years the addition of the sport on a full- time basis.

LAG FOOTBALL IS A CONTEST of speed. It’s not only the breakneck pace of the action, but the rapid

growth of the game that is garnering attention. Move over, pickleball — flag football is quickly moving the chains to become the nation’s fastest-growing sport. Maricopa’s two public high schools return with girls’ teams after making their debut last fall. And one Maricopa resident, who compares the explosion to what was seen after the implementation of Title IX, which prohibited discrimination based on gender in education programs or activities that receive federal funding more than 50 years ago, will lead the Casa Grande Union High School squad. “In the 1980s, after Title IX, I was coaching girls’ softball in Alaska,” recalled Province resident Dennis Byerly, 77, who played and coached flag football for 20 years during his military and athletic career. “The kids bonded together then and enthusiasm bred more enthusiasm. Now, flag football is the thing of the future. It’s Title IX all over again.” Byerly was not involved with the Casa Grande Union team that finished 8-4 in its first season, losing 6-0 in the playoffs to a Marana Mountain View squad it had defeated in the regular season. The team featured many talented freshmen, and Byerly says the program’s prospects are bright if the girls stay together. Maricopa and Desert Sunrise High Schools experienced rocky debuts with inexperienced clubs. The Rams won their first two games before finishing on a 10-game skid, while the Golden Hawks were 1-5 before dropping their final four games by forfeit after a group of players were disqualified. Both coaches, however, saw many positive signs and are eager to see the sport — and their teams — continue to grow. A national boom There will be two sports making their Olympic debut in 2028 in Los Angeles — one of them is flag football (the other squash). The NFL fully supports flag football with more than 1,600 teams serving over 620,000 youth athletes ages 4 to 17 in all 50 states. Collegiately, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics sponsors a national championship with Ottawa (Kansas) University winning three straight titles.

BY TOM SCHUMAN

Maricopa High School girls try out for the flag football team in its second season at the school’s Honeycutt Avenue campus Aug. 12.

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InMaricopa.com | September 2024

September 2024 | InMaricopa.com