INDIANAPOLIS – College football players aren’t the only ones lacing up their cleats on Saturdays this fall in Indiana. So are the girls of the Colts’ high school flag football league.
“The girls and their interest, excitement and excitement of being able to show up to a field on a Saturday and play football has been really cool and rewarding to see,” said Andy Matis, the Colts’ Senior Manager of Football Development.
The league aims to introduce football to the next generation of athletes and fans, especially girls who have not had the opportunity to play before now.
“You’re going to create more avid fans for the game, right in general,” Matis said. “If you grow up playing it, you’re more likely to spend more time understanding it, watching it, so I think it’s just going to continue to help our sport.”
This is year two for the league, which has expanded from eight to 27 teams this season. It has five divisions across Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and South Bend.
“We had a great turnout,” said Bishop Chatard Head Coach, Joshua Schaffner. “We had almost 25 girls sign up to participate and look to just grow that next year. We’ve had good student support. It’s in the announcements at school. Some of the parents and friends come out to watch. It’s really good.”
“I think that it’s amazing,” Bishop Chatard junior Marissa Szentes said. “I had no idea how football worked, but now it’s fun watching it and it’s a cool experience that I never thought that I would be part of.”
The Colts hosted a scrimmage at Lucas Oil Stadium in August after a preseason game with Anthony Richardson and Zaire Franklin on the field helping to coach.
“It’s been really cool to see how interested and excited our players are around the growth of this sport,” said Matis. “It provides some validity to what the girls are out there doing as well.”
The ultimate validation will come when girls’ flag football becomes an official varsity sport sanctioned by the IHSAA one day.
“They consistently go back to that we’ve wanted to play football, but have never had that space,” Matis said. “Now they have it, and to compete for the school and have your school name across your chest is really cool.”
The Colts hope over 100 schools will participate in the sport in the future.
