This spring, Park girls can look forward to a brand new sport: flag football. Gym and health teacher Kayla Ross has been working recently to make flag football an official Park sport. She has begun recruiting girls of all ages to join so the team can start strong once the season begins.
According to senior Eva Taybior, Ross wanted to start this team to give girls at Park an opportunity she wished she had in high school.
“I know (Ross) plays football professionally and she thinks that it’s important for other girls to have it as an option,” Taybior said. “She got into it super late, so she hopes that young girls can get into it earlier.”
Ross said she’s had lots of help from other school officials and people outside of Park throughout the process of starting the team.
“The athletic department has been very helpful,” Ross said. “Rob (Griffin) and Andy Ewald were also working with the Vikings, themselves. We’ve been working with their representatives for a couple of months now and they’re supplying some resources, funding, things like that. Admin’s (also) been pretty helpful with allowing us to kick start up here at the high school.”
Freshman Lauryn Pohlman said she’s looking forward to flag football because it’s an alternative to typical spring sports and she’s seen other girls show a lot of interest in playing.
“I don’t want to do track and (flag football is) a really fun sport,” Pohlman said. “It looks cool and a lot of good people are playing it.”
Taybior said she’s enthusiastic about starting something new and optimistic that the season will have positive outcomes.
“It sounds really fun and it is a newer thing so I guess I just want to try it out and try something different,” Taybior said. “I hope we have a successful first season and I also just want to have fun.”
According to Ross, the flag football schedule is carefully spaced around other spring sports so as many athletes as possible can join.
“We want multi-sport athletes, people that play softball or are in track, things like that, so the scheduling is designed purposefully for those athletes to attend flag after their practice, but only two days a week,” Ross said. “It would be like a 6-7:30 time so that those players can go to both sports.”
Pohlman said she sees the energy surrounding tackle football games and is excited to participate in something similar.
“Football is a cool sport and everybody goes to the boys’ football games,” Pohlman said. “It’s cool to see and it’ll be fun to play.”
Ross is hosting a flag football information meeting during Park Connections Feb. 19 in room B134, and the season’s games will officially start in April.
