“Fast. Fearless. Female.” That’s the motto for the first ever CHS girls flag football team. This year, the Washington Commanders sponsored all 25 high schools in Fairfax County Girls Flag Football teams in hope to create opportunities and inspire the next generation of athletes.
Head coach Adam Neff was inspired by his daughter to start coaching the sport. He’s been helping run a youth girls flag football team for the past three years.
“My daughter wanted to play tackle football but couldn’t,” Neff said, “As she got older, she kept asking me, so we decided to start playing flag football.”
Junior Allison Lin heard about the new team through The Knightly News during homeroom. She used to play with her friends just for fun after school in middle school and thought it would be nice to join a team.
“My friend and I were like what’s the worst that could happen if we did tryout,” Lin said. “We both got the opportunity to join the team”
Sophomore Agape Yim had some free time this fall and thought that playing flag football could help prepare for basketball in the winter. She is on the team’s growth squad which helps build and train the members before the move up to the official team.
“I always thought football was really interesting,” Yim said, “But I never got the chance to play. I thought this was a good chance to try something new.”
According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, girls have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than boys have. According to their instagram,@tillygflag, it’s a chance to make HERstory.
“It’s really nice how FCPS is doing sports like girls flag football,” Yim said, “there were over 60 people at tryouts showing so much interest and I have friends trying out at schools around us too.”
The Washington Commanders helped in the creation of the team with their sponsorship. They paid for uniforms, equipment and instructional materials. They also held a media day where all 25 teams came together to take photos and learn about the Commander’s legends.
“I love it,” Neff said, “I don’t know what took so long but kudos to them. I’m so glad they gave us this opportunity. Other teams around the area like the Ravens in Maryland or the Jets in New Jersey are also helping to get more girls involved.”
The first ever games were played on Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. against South Lakes High School and at 7:15 p.m. against Westfield High School. Both of the games were played at Herndon High School. CHS won both games with an 18-0 score against Westfield and a 19-18 score against South Lakes. CHS has a game on Nov. 3 at 6 p.m against Herndon High School at Centerville High School.
“More girls and women watch football than people realize,” Neff said, “Until recently it’s been more exclusionary and only boys, so getting a version of football to include females is really special to me.”
