PHILADELPHIA, New York (WWNY) – A new varsity sport is kicking off at high schools across New York next spring: girls flag football. Starting in 2023 it will officially be a state championship sport.
Will there be a team from the north country competing for it?
“It’s something that we’d definitely look into for the future. In the short term, we’re not going to be doing it next year,” said Indian River High School Athletic Director Bob Alexander.
He recognizes there’s potential, but admits there’s still a lot to tackle.
“The first thing is to just kind of discuss it. Get it in the budget so you can hire coaches and run it financially. The next step is we’ll be doing an interest survey to see how many girls are involved in it,” he said.
Alexander says along with finances, finding competition can be a challenge. He thinks, though, there is still a way to get the ball across the goal line.
“We could start with intramural sports, so what’s the interest for girls flag football in the school, and run it as an intramural sport to start. As that grows we could potentially connect with other schools like Carthage and Watertown. Some of the bigger schools, they may be interested in that, General Brown,” he said.
Girls varsity flag football may not be in the immediate future for Indian River, but Alexander says there is one women’s program that they are looking to add to the varsity roster.
“One of the sports that we are looking at currently is girls wrestling because the state is going to be adding a state championship for girls wrestling soon,” he said.
As for flag football, more than 140 high schools fielded a club or intramural team in 2023. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association expects that number to continue to grow.
Copyright 2023 WWNY. All rights reserved.
