SALT LAKE CITY — Football has historically not been a very accessible sport for women. Yet, this fall, the Utah High School Girls Football Association will pioneer a new route for high school girls through a flag football league.
Open to girls in eighth to 12th grade, the league will empower young girls to try a new sport and find a team worth celebrating.
Ryan NeVille, founder of the Utah High School Girls Football Association, began working on the league in August of last year. After watching his daughter compete in a tackle football league, he realized that Utah could benefit from a similar flag football league. This summer, he took a group of girls to the Utah Summer Games in Cedar City and realized how many opportunities flag football could provide for the athletes.
“It was incredible to see girls competing on that stage for the first time,” said NeVille. “Being part of the Summer Games showed that this movement is real — and just getting started.”
Flag football for women has also opened up various chances to play after high school, something women’s tackle football doesn’t offer.
“The nice thing about flag compared to tackle is that there are opportunities to play in professional leagues,” Neville said. “Salt Lake has a professional women’s flag football league, and of course, they’re taking the game to the Olympics as well. It was great timing and Utah has amazing athletes all over.”
Come September, the association will begin playing competitive games against other leagues across the nation. While 17 states have sanctioned flag football as an official high school sport, Utah has yet to follow suit. NeVille and his team hope to continue making changes in the field this fall and beyond.
As a bonus to the potential sanctioning, NeVille and his team believe flag football can be a great sport for girls with no sports background to try.
“The great thing about football is that there is a place for everyone. We’ll find our quarterbacks, but there is a whole other side of the game,” Neville said. “Football is a good game because you don’t have to be the fastest. You don’t have to be the strongest. It gives a lot of these girls a place where they can come in and be a part of a team. Football is a true team sport because everybody has their job to do.”
Utah High School Girls Football Association aims to prepare girls for a potential career or scholarship from flag football, while also helping move Utah toward the sanctioning of the sport.
Registration for the teams is open until Sept. 8, with games starting on Sept. 15. For more information, visit the Utah High School Girls Football Association website.
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