Was Blair’s introduction of flag football a success?

The popularity of flag football is on the rise, with more and more people playing it worldwide. Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and is set to debut during the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. 

Following this growth, many counties across Maryland have added flag football as a varsity sport. Frederick County was the first to initialize the sport last year with a sponsorship with the Baltimore Ravens and Under Armor. Montgomery County has also joined the trend, with all 25 public high schools creating varsity flag football programs, including Blair. Blair’s girls’ varsity flag football team has allowed Blazers to gain new perspectives and opportunities to partake in an experience they love.

Girls' varsity flag football

Photo: Girls' varsity flag football team talk strategy during a game

Girls' varsity flag football team talk strategy during a game Photo courtesy of Thea Womack.

Why coach? 

The heart of Blair’s flag football team are the coaches Rebecca Hughes and Morgan Patel, who both have prior experience in flag football and played it competitively in college. “Both coach Hughes and I played flag football competitively [in and after college], but nothing existed then in high school to play the sport,” Patel states. 

Patel hopes that through the addition of flag football, girls at Blair can learn to enjoy an activity that she loves. “It was just too cool of an opportunity to be part of and to help young girls learn a sport that we are so passionate about,” she chuckles. “We had to say yes.” 

Why join? 

For many high schoolers, flag football is the opportunity of a lifetime. This is especially the case for sophomore Ahlam Kemal, a blocker on the flag football team. Kemal has always had a passion for football, but refrained from participating due to the dangers that injuries posed. “Since eighth grade, I’ve been trying to convince my parents to let me join the actual football team, like tackle football. And then in ninth grade, it was a big argument with my parents,” she remarks, “I wanted to join, but they didn’t want me to get hurt.”

Flag football gives female students like Kemal who are interested in playing tackle football a chance to experience a sport that they wanted to get involved in. Flag football also has its perks, such as a reduced risk of injury due to the lack of tackling, making it much more enticing to athletes around the world. 

Clinics offered this summer also gave female students a chance to try the sport out before deciding if they wanted to join the team. Many Blair students signed up for these clinics, which gave them an opportunity to learn about this unique experience. “I saw a bunch of Instagram posts about this clinic that was coming to Montgomery County,” freshman corner/safety Leah Chang observes. “So I went to the clinic, and I really liked it, and I continued to go to a few more clinics in the summer, and that's what got me started.” 

Selection process 

Since this is flag football’s first year, the coaches wanted to accept as many people in order to grow the program. “We had to think about things like skill and athleticism and stuff like that,” Patel reflects. “But we also know this is a brand-new program, and we wanted to build it for future years.” 

Blazers also had positive thoughts toward the selection process. “The coaches kept as many people as they could, which I think is good, because it’s the first year,” senior blocker Chloe Ciabotti adds. By including as many students into the creation of the new game, the future of flag football is looking bright. 

Patel also gave a lot of insight into how positions were assigned. At the start of the season, students tried out every position to find what they liked, before choosing to specialize in one or two positions. “At the beginning, we had a lot of everybody doing every skill and learning and figuring out what they were best at, what they liked the best. And we’ve now narrowed it down to one or two positions that they definitely are better at and prefer,” Patel explains. This strategy gave players the chance to find what position they enjoyed and wanted to continue to pursue. 

Practices

Every sport has a huge time commitment, due to after school practices and long games. Because of this, many students often find it hard to keep up with school work. Although flag football has fewer after school practices, Ciabotti finds it difficult to balance her responsibilities. “[It’s] kind of hard, just to maintain a good sleep schedule and keep on top of all your school work,” she remarks, before adding, “but it’s definitely less of a time commitment than other sports, which are six days a week for two hours.” 

Flag football gives students Thursday and Friday afternoons off and has very occasional weekend practices, which makes the sport alluring for students who are interested but also have busy schedules. However, it is still a massive obligation where students must think carefully before trying out. 

Nevertheless, practices are still productive and female Blazers are able to improve a lot over the course of the season. “The games are really good. We’re actually improving a lot, just in the way we play, and in our communication and our style of play,” Ciabotti says. Even though many Blazers were recently introduced to flag football, their eagerness to learn has allowed them to acquire many skills associated with the sport in a very short amount of time. 

Lessons learned

Learning something new truly gives students a new perspective. For Chang, flag football introduced her to a team aspect in sports that was not present in swimming, a sport she also does competitively. “For flag football, you’re working with a team, and it’s just a completely different experience that I wasn’t used to, so it gives you a new perspective,” she adds. 

Flag football is unique in comparison to other extracurriculars offered at Blair, so students who sign up are given an opportunity to learn not only about the sport, but also about the people at Blair. “As a freshman, I was kind of nervous about my teammates, and I didn’t know who was gonna be on my team,” Chang comments. “But I would say that everyone’s been super welcoming, and everyone’s kind of new to the sport, so we’re all going through the same thing.” 

Potential improvements 

There are bound to be several changes when a new system of rules is added, and flag football is not an exception. Numerous revisions are made each week to the regulations and then emailed to the coaches. “We get emails with rule changes every week because they’re figuring out how [flag football] is running,” Patel comments. As the students become more knowledgeable about the game, they will hopefully have more input into the game regulations. 

However, one aspect of flag football games that should be improved is the game duration. Several players and coaches have expressed dislike of the short games, as it is difficult to adapt to the other team. “I would say it’s really stressful and nerve wracking, because the game is very short,” Chang mentions. “It’s like 45 minutes, and the time never stops.” By making the duration of flag football games more similar to the duration of a regular tackle football game, players are given more of a chance to adjust and learn the other team’s play style. 

Future of flag football 

“I think it’s just a good sport to play. It’s very inclusive, which is nice,” says Ciabotti. Flag football’s future is only looking up, with more and more people participating and playing the game. It is expected that many more counties across the state will only continue to expand flag football, making it even more competitive. 

With the expansion of flag football into the Olympics, there is also potential for players who became interested in the sport through school programs to play competitively and make it big. “Someone who experienced flag football from high school and turned out to love it can maybe eventually go to the Olympics,” Kemal remarks. 

The introduction of flag football into Blair gives students a unique opportunity into the world’s fastest growing sport. If you are looking for a sport to join in the fall, flag football may pique your interest! 

Blair’s next flag football game will be on Monday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. against the Paint Branch Panthers (away). Tickets can be found here.