As you drive past Harlem High School on a Tuesday evening, you might notice a group of girls running drills on the field. Usually, this doesn’t catch your attention. But this group is different. These athletes are wearing bright yellow flags and weirdly padded helmets. You may not realize it, but you are witnessing history.
It’s just another day of flag football practice for these Harlem High School girls. Several high schools in the Rockford area are participating in a girls flag football league sponsored by the Rockford Park District.
Flag football is similar to regular American football. There’s just no physical contact. Instead of players being tackled, they wear flags attached to their belts. A player is downed when an opposing player pulls at least one of their flags. There are six positions: quarterback, center, wide receiver, safety, rusher, and defensive back.
Nathaniel Dodson and Kirstin Gherardini coach Harlem’s team. Both have experience coaching girls track and field. Dodson has six years of coaching tackle football under his belt. He became interested in girls flag football after watching a highlight tape Guilford’s coach posted of the Vikings’ 4th place finish at state.
“I started asking him questions. ‘Tell me what this is about, I’m curious,’ and it kind of snowballed from there,” Dodson explained. “I found this as a way to start something that has never been done before and to make sure it’s done right.”
Dodson, Gherardini, and the girls can’t wait to see how this season turns out.
Coach Gherardini said, “I am excited to see how we do because we started out with six girls…now we have 26!”
Gherardini says the girls show up to practice every day ready to work and work hard.
Harlem’s quarterback Giada Nowling said, “I like to leave it all out. I don’t want to regret anything after the game.”
(Credit-Photo by: Nathaly Delgado-Enriquez/The Valley Forge)
Not only has the new sport taught the players and coaches how to run drills, but it also leads to real-world skills.
“It’s taught me to be calm and resilient,” Nowling said.
Not only have the coaches taught the girls skills, but the girls also teach their coaches. Dodson says he’s learning to be more patient.
“I realize that they might not know what a term means,” Dodson said. “It’s not that they don’t know it. They have just never been taught it.”
Coach Gherardini has learned that it’s okay to have fun.
“They are all very goofy,” Gherardini said.
The friendships the girls created don’t only last on the turf but also carry into the halls and after school. Even while sweating, the girls smile and laugh. Coach Gherardini loves the new bonds she’s created with her athletes in the hallways and the classroom. One of Nowling’s favorite moments is warming up together as a team.
Girls flag football has opened up several opportunities for the athletes. Nowling wants to continue her athletic career in high school and possibly college. She even says she and her teammates get the same opportunities as boys tackle football.
As interest in girls flag football rises in the Rockford area, the number of schools joining the league grows. Dodson hopes someday, the sport will become a part of NIC 10 athletics.
