Earlier this year, the Colorado High School Activities Association approved flag football for girls as a fall sport. Adding flag football to the schedule provides many opportunities for female athletes, including the chance to be active every season of the school year.

“If you didn’t play softball, volleyball or cross country, you had nothing to do in the fall. Now we have football,” said Barry Clark, head coach of the Air Academy.

One of the Kadet seniors, Misha Edwards, says playing flag football in the fall helps her stay in shape for her winter and spring sports, where she dives and runs. Edwards explained that participating in the additional fall sport gives her an alternative workout instead of spending the entire offseason exclusively in the weight room.

Overall, these young women hope to further advance women’s sports as a whole and gain more support from the community. Football has traditionally been considered a male-dominated sport, but by taking to the field this season, they hope to show that women and men play on equal terms.

“Right now, girls have to play certain sports. The fact that we now have soccer and other sports that aren’t normally considered girls’ sports helps grow our community,” said Lexi Pangel, Air Academy graduate.

Many of the seniors on the Air Academy team said they wish it had been recognized as a sport earlier in their high school careers, and now they just hope to have a great season and help continue to grow both flag football and support for women’s sports.

The growth has already begun. From a handful of teams that tried it out in the spring, over 40 schools in the state are now participating. Barry Clark shared that he hopes the growth will reach a point where every school has a team for all three levels.
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