Charlotte high schools start a girls flag football league with help from the Panthers
Tuesday afternoon, under a sunny sky in uptown Charlotte, a group of high school girls ran onto the field at Bank of America Stadium, wearing the same jerseys their high school football teams usually do. Their smiles, and enthusiasm, said it all.
They were making history.
This spring, those young women will play in the first girls flag football league in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
“I’m ecstatic to be a part of this,” said North Mecklenburg senior Breana Fowler, 17, who runs track and plays softball. “This is an amazing opportunity, not only for me but for future girls who are in elementary school or who haven’t been in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system -- to be a part of a program that is able to be a pioneer to empower girls in the world of football.”
There will be 19 CMS teams participating in the club sports league along with Charlotte Catholic. The Panthers, who made the announcement in time for Wednesday’s National Girls & Women in Sports Day, are providing $50,000 to help launch the program along with balls and flags and school resources. The NFL team also partnered with Nike to help get custom uniforms for the girls to wear.
“I’m really excited,” said Mallard Creek 16-year-old junior Ava Humphries.
Her brother, DJ, is a former Mavericks football star who went on to play at Florida and was named to the 2022 Pro Bowl as an offensive tackle with the Cardinals this week.
“As a young woman playing sports all my life,” Ava Humphries said, “I’ve always been around (football) and I love it, and being able to give other young girls and women the opportunities I’ve always had is really important to me, and I’m grateful.”
Nike and the NFL are making a big push into girls flag football and announced a $5 million multi-year initiative to grow the sport in America’s high schools. On Tuesday, Nike said state athletic associations that already have girls flag football will receive a donation of up to $100,000 in products, including uniforms, socks, sports bras and other accessories.
Six states offer girls flag football as a sanctioned sport at the high school level: Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and New York.
Florida was the first, starting in the 2002-03 school year after girls flag football had been a club sport within several schools for many years. To become a recognized sport, Florida required at least 48 schools to commit to having a season.
In North Carolina, state association commissioner Que Tucker said in order for girls flag football to become a sanctioned sport with a state championship, at least 25 percent of the NCHSAA’s 427 schools would have to offer it, or at least half of the teams playing in a single classification. There are 106 4A schools, for example.
Tucker said she believes if the Panthers get behind flag football in more school districts as they have in Charlotte, it would fast-track the sport.
“I’m always glad when opportunities expand for students in general, be they male or female,” Tucker said. “I believe in education-based athletics and I believe in the lessons that are taught and values that are shaped through them. The more we can add and the more our schools can afford to offer education-based athletics, I just think that’s wonderful.’
The Charlotte league grew out of a girls flag football jamboree the Panthers held in the fall. Team spokesperson Riley Fields said the response was overwhelming.
“We knew we had something,” he said.
The team reached out to CMS and this new sport was born.
And when CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston found out about what was happening, he was thrilled.
“This a huge deal,” he said. “I’m the father of two young girls in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and we have to be intentional in creating opportunities for our young women because we know for so long those opportunities didn’t exist. We know what those opportunities can lead to. This really extends beyond the (sport). They gain lifelong skills, such as teamwork, perseverance, leadership — those are all attributes these young women need to be successful in life.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 11:45 AM.
