Finally, the time has come: Northwood girls’ flag football is set to compete in its highly anticipated inaugural season this fall. The team, currently in the offseason, held practices three times a week over the summer, preparing for their first appearance in the inter-district competitions that will begin early September.
With over 20 athletes attending the flag football summer camp, the team has focused on learning the rules and tactics of the game as well as conditioning for the upcoming season. Because participating athletes came from a wide range of different sports, the team initially struggled with building chemistry and developing game IQ.
“Camp was a great time to work on building new relationships and laying down the foundation for the program,” junior Elisa Kung said.
Since strategies like pulling flags and advancing towards the end zone are entirely new concepts, there has been a greater emphasis on conceptual development compared to traditional practices. It is a unique challenge that most high school athletes, aside from this year’s flag football team, will never experience.
The biggest challenge to come, though, is still upcoming: Northwood has a late start to the game. University and Woodbridge’s flag football teams competed last season in the Matt Leinart high school league, which did not operate under CIF. Northwood will be playing against programs with significantly more experience, granting the team an underdog status.
“Other schools have been playing a lot longer than us, which we can’t really do anything about,” senior Nikki Sanders said. “They will have more IQ than us but other than that I think we all have a really good attitude towards building our own program.”
Despite the technical challenges, the time dedicated to learning has become one of the strongest means of bonding for the players.
“A lot of us are inexperienced and have never played flag football before, so we are all trying to learn the sport together,” Kung said. “It’s a really positive community.”
With less than a month until the first competition, the team faces a quick turnaround to train and prepare for the growing sport. Both the players and coaches have embraced this feat with tenacity and positive mindsets.
“I think no matter what the game outcomes are, we’re all going to have a really fun time,” Sanders said. “We all want to win and this season is just the baseline. It can only go up from here.”
