Girls flag football is no longer just a casual sporting event. In fact, in February, the California Interscholastic Federation recognized it as an official high school sport across all schools. With this new ruling, California joined seven other states in their march toward gender equity in sports, finally affording female athletes the right to participate in organized flag football.
Although Pinewood doesn’t have an official high school girls team yet, seventh grader Sallie Haun and eighth grader Sloane Parenti have been playing junior high flag football for almost two years now.
“I first played it in sixth grade,” Parenti said. “It’s so exciting because anything can happen and there’s always something I can learn from competing and putting [myself] out there.”
As the only girls on the team, Parenti and Haun urged other girls to join flag football teams. In addition to trying something new, they believe joining flag football teams would allow girls to create change on the field.
“There are a lot of girls who would like to do it, but don’t know they can or don’t think they should because it’s with boys,” Haun said. “My advice would be to try, and if you don’t like it, you could always try something else. You really never know.”
Regardless of who Parenti and Haun are playing with or against, their love for competition pushes them to pursue different athletic opportunities, which is why the prospect of playing high school flag football is so enticing to them.
“It’s awesome that they’re finally giving us a chance to play,” Parenti said. “We don’t really have a girls team, but they’re trying to include us and it’s exciting.”
Much to the delight of aspiring high school athletes like Haun and Parenti, a Pinewood girls flag football team isn’t far off the horizon. Many institutions like Menlo School have already started developing high-level girls football programs. Former NFL talents John Paye and Steve Young spearheaded Menlo’s program.
Menlo junior Scarlett Bundy said she has had an amazing experience playing football because of her coaches and teammates. Although many are new to the game of football, the players memorize up to 20 plays and outsmart defenders through agility, speed, execution and IQ.
Since the debut of their season, the Menlo girls have been featured in local news outlets like The Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, San Mateo Daily Journal and KTVU FOX, and national news outlets like USA Today, Sports Illustrated and The New York Times.
“I saw this as an opportunity to lead young women in having a larger presence in sports since this debut would be the first in history,” Bundy said.
English teacher Michelle Gannon said she finds the evolution of girls sports fascinating. Gannon’s sixth grade daughter Hudson Gannon plays flag football at Pinewood’s Middle Campus, paving the way for herself and others to make flag football more accessible.
“A lot of girls grow up watching football with their families on Sundays and to feel as if there is actually a sport that they can participate in that mimics that same kind of concept is great,” Gannon said. “I think a lot of times girls typically feel excluded from that realm of possibility, but flag football offers an opportunity to experience that.”
