Girls Football:
Whether administrators and athletic directors like the idea of adding girls flag football to the long list of high school sports, it’s coming sooner than later.
And don’t get it wrong.
It’s not a misogynistic mindset that has them scrambling to ask and answer a myriad of questions.
It’s all about logistics and resources.
While only a couple of schools hope to field a team in 2023, the vast majority are aiming for August of 2024.
Here are the basics as it stands today:
Girls flag football will compete in the fall, alongside (girls) volleyball, (boys) water polo, (girls) tennis, (girls) golf and football.
It will look a lot like 7-on-7, as each offense will feature a center, quarterback, running back and four receivers.
The length of games will be two 20-minute running halves.
However, there will be a two-minute warning at the end of each half.
There won’t be kickoffs.
After TD’s, the scoring team will attempt either a one-point conversion from the 5-yard line, or two-pointers from the 10.
They still haven’t made an official width and length of fields.
Although it’s expected the length will be somewhere between 50-and-80 yards, with a width of 30-40 yards, according to the CIF-SS website.
One might ask if the girls will be ready to compete in either two or 14 months, depending on whether they join the sport in 2023 or 2024.
The answer might surprise you.
In some cases, female athletes have been competing in flag football for years.
And there is no better example than that of the 2023 Upland Chargers.
The Chargers went 8-0, including a 6-0 run in the regular season in the fifth-sixth-grade MVP Yorba Linda-Placentia League.
Many of the girls play soccer together, and one 12-year-old, Peyton Mann, was part of the La Verne Little League softball program that went 2-2 at the 2022 Little League World Series.
As the regular season ended, the standings looked like this:
Upland Chargers (6-0)
Placentia/Yorba Lind 49ers (5-1)
Placentia/Yorba Linda Saints (4-2)
Chino Raiderettes (3-4)
In the semifinal round of the playoffs, the Upland Chargers would take on the Saints.
Upland was able to strike first, as they went into the break leading 7-0.
The Saints, however, would bounce back with two unanswered scores, and enjoyed a 12-7 lead with 1:40 to play.
On the Saints final drive, the Chargers’ Mann, jumped in front of a pass for a pick-six to secure a 13-12 victory.
Upland would face the second-place 49ers in the finals.
The title game opened with the 49ers taking the ball on offense.
On the first drive, linebacker Brooklyn Crocker made a read on a pass and intercepted the throw and brought it back for a TD.
From there, it was all Chargers’ offense with receiving yards and touchdowns leaders including Peyton Lak, Kyla Ruiz, and Peyton Mann.
The Chargers would go on to win the title 34-0 with fourth-grade quarterback Allie Tolan leading the way.
“Allie is a special talent. When she is playing with confidence, she is hard to stop,” Upland coach Mike Mann said.
“The plays she made out on that field in the championship game require a high level of IQ and athleticism, both of which we’ve seen from her this year. Asking a fourth grader to roll out of the pocket to escape the blitz and then connect on a deep ball while on the move. It’s just not something you see everyday at this age regardless of gender. I’m super proud of the way she competed.”
Other notable players that positively impacted the tournament were Makenna Miederhoff and Paige Daly, who each made big plays offensively and defensively.
The sentimental favorite had to be fourth-grade quarterback, Allie Tolan, who played up and still found a way to shine.
Just below is a video of a long TD pass and run from Tolan to McKenna Miederhoff.
Pictured L-R (above) and members of the Upland Chargers championship team includes Kyla Ruiz, Paige Daly, Peyton Lak, Peyton Mann, Allie Tolan, Makenna Miederhoff, Brooklyn Crocker.
Mike Mann and Ryan Tolan led the Upland program.
This (210 Prep Sports) site will continue to cover the sport as it grows, and this story will be on the website, the 210 Prep Sports Facebook page and from @210PrepSports on Twitter.
Directly below, I asked a father/coach Michael Mann and his 12-year-old daughter, Peyton Mann, to answer questions from the point of view of a parent and an athlete about the excitement they and others have for girls flag football as it works its way into the mainstream of high school sports.
Other Flag Football Rules as of June of 2023:
* Two timeouts per half and unused timeouts do not carry over.
* Five-minute halftime
* No-run zones 5 yards from either end zone
* One run per series
* If defense blitzes, QB may run
* No blocking or screening allowed at any time, no excessive contact
* Only two rushers at one time
* Rusher must avoid hitting QB’s arm even on the follow through motion
* No kickoff or punts
* If a team decides to punt on fourth down, the ball automatically goes to the 10-yard line on a 50-yard field.
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