The rise of girls flag football around Chicago
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Lane Tech plays Phillips (in blue) in a Bears-sponsored championship in October. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Bears
Flag football is having a moment in Chicago, not to mention nationwide.
Driving the news: Chicago's own Lane Tech girls flag football team — which took top state honors this season — were hailed last week at City Hall with tributes and a resolution.
Why it matters: The Roscoe Village high school's team is part of a rising sport that lets young women play varsity football with reduced concussion risk, while providing opportunities for college scholarships.
- ICYMI, the sport was recently added to the 2028 Summer Olympic games.
🏈 State of play: Chicago has 58 girls' teams who are part of a statewide league made up of more than 100 squads.
- Catholic, charter and district schools on the North and South sides are all fielding teams in Chicago.
- Outside the city, most teams come from surrounding suburbs and Rockford.
College scholarship programs for girls flag football are in their infancy but growing. Karla Martinez Rodriguez of Solorio Academy became Chicago's first young woman to earn one last summer, from Cottey College in Missouri.
Zoom in: Flag football is the "greatest community," Lane quarterback Alaina Valmassei, a junior from North Center, tells Axios.
- With so few opportunities to play football as young girls, these high school athletes walk onto a level playing field with little of the elitism often found in other sports.
- "We're all learning from the bottom up, so there is immediately this camaraderie and teamwork," Valmassei says.
- To win last year's Bears-sponsored championship in Halas Hall, Lane's team beat Bronzeville's Phillips High School, edging out reigning champ West Suburban Willowbrook.
The big picture: Illinois, which started its first league in 2021, arrived a little late to the game. Florida introduced the sport in high schools in 2003, New York in 2011 and Nevada in 2017, according to ESPN.
What's next: The Illinois High School Association has just approved girls flag football as an official state sport. The group is expected to hammer out details for an official state championship to be held in the 2024-25 school year.
💭 My thought bubble: As a former Lane Tech athlete (gymnastics 1985), I was pretty psyched to be at City Hall the day the flag football team was honored and to meet the athletes.
- But I did feel a little ancient when I tried to lead them in a rousing chorus of "Go, Lane, Go," only to learn that the 100-year-old fight song is no longer as popular as it was in my day!