Madison School and Community Recreation (MSCR) held their second weekend of games for their High School Girls’ Flag Football league this past Sunday, June 7 at Vel Phillips Memorial High School.
East, Lafollette, Memorial, Verona, and West High School all signed up to take the gridiron in the league’s inaugural season.
The idea for the league came from Adam Smith, a physical education teacher at Akira Toki Middle School, who had the goal to bring girls’ flag football to the Madison area.
Smith had a vision to capitalize on both the global and local enthusiasm for women’s flag football.
“There’s gonna be women’s flag football in the 2028 Olympics, and more college programs,” said Smith. “Right now, I think there’s now 11 college programs in the state of Wisconsin, two of which are scholarship schools, so it’s just growing immensely.”
This past fall, Smith reached out to the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) about creating a league. MMSD connected him with MSCR and their afterschool supervisor, Ian Hannah.
Hannah and Smith collaborated to successfully get a grant from the Green Bay Packers and USA Football to fund the league’s officials, coaches, and equipment.
From there, Smith organized to get other schools in the area on board and push to get access to field space. Additionally, he started coaching his own squad at Memorial High School.
For some student athletes, this league gave them an opportunity to play a game they’ve always loved. Jaden, a senior at Lafollette High School, has been playing with her brothers her entire life.
“I’ve been playing football since a young age, I just really love it,” she said. “It helps, it takes my mind off everything. It’s like therapy, it’s awesome.”
For others, this league has been an introduction to a new sport they hope to continue playing throughout high school.
Furthermore, players and organizers alike share the same eagerness to see the game continue to expand.
“I want more games, more people to come out and play. More energy, more attention,” said Santariah, a sophomore at Lafollette High School.
Hannah added on by saying, “My goal would be that you look at girls’ flag football 6 years from now, not much differently than you would look at Friday Night Lights, tackle football.”
The next step in growing MSCR’s league is getting the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) to officially sanction girls’ flag football.
The league would need to determine if the sport would take place in the fall or the spring. Both choices come with their own roadblocks.
Several of the school’s coaches already coach tackle football in the fall, so it would be a huge time commitment to work with two teams. On the other hand, playing in the spring could limit athlete participation.
“In the spring, (flag football would compete with) soccer, softball, track and field,” Hannah said. “These are athletic kids, and they’re in a lot of other sports, so it conflicts with practices.”
For now, the girls’ flag football movement in Madison continues to gain momentum. Smith reflects on how special it has been to bring the movement to MMSD and beyond.
“We’re growing the opportunity for these athletes to play the great game of football,” said Smith. “And just have another opportunity, another door for after high school, to play a sport, to earn a scholarship, and just to continue to grow it.”
Memorial High School kept its undefeated streak alive this past Sunday, moving to 4-0. When asked post-game if they had any interest in playing college flag football, every single player gave an unhesitating, “yes.”
The league continues to play this Sunday at Lussier Stadium at Lafollette High School.
