LHS has introduced a new fall sport this year after the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) approved it on January 2nd, 2024: girl’s flag football. While boys football has been an important and highly-valued sport for decades, there has never been an option for girls football, due to this sport being perceived as a “boy’s sport” by many Americans.
Flag football being added to Libertyville’s abundance of sports teams shows the importance of including more opportunities. With girl’s flag football quickly gaining popularity, many questions about the inner workings of the sport arise. The main difference between flag football and regular football is the fact that in flag football, instead of tackling an opponent to get the ball, the players attempt to pull off the ribbons attached to the belt around the other player’s waist. When playing flag football, the goal is the same as regular football: don’t permit a touchdown to be scored by the other team. Flag football has been gaining immense popularity over the past few years, causing several schools around the country to add this sport to their school.
“We have a really diverse group of athletes,” Coach Rafiner said. “I think it’s a really cool melting pot of kids and personalities and abilities.”
Originally, LHS would have only had one team. Due to the amount of girls that tried out, now the school has both a varsity team and a JV team. While about 100 girls tried out for the team, a mere 44 made the cut.
“I think it’s really good,” Malone-McNeely said. “The funding part is very hard for the girls and I because there aren’t enough jerseys for all of us.”
Nevertheless, the players and coaches say that they are “making history” by being the first ever LHS girl’s flag football team. Overall, the addition of girl’s flag football is making a difference in the sports world, football will continue to rise over the years, indefinitely.
“I think it’s great that LHS added flag football,” sophomore Mary Minogue said. “It’s awesome for the school and making sports equal.”
