Through the teamwork and collaboration of many people, Park now has its first-ever all-girls flag football team. The team is split into four different parts: Varsity Black, Varsity Orange, JV Black, and JV Orange. Tryouts were earlier in April, with over 70 girls who tried out, and now players have begun practicing. Players meet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to improve their flag football techniques, build a new community and have fun as a team. This is a big accomplishment for Park, as football is typically a male-dominated sport. This team now gives girls a chance to try something new and gain new skills.
Assistant coach Evelyn Lashley said she loves coaching girls flag football because of the great energy coming from the team. She said as a teacher, she loves getting to spend time with her older students and really values the time she spends coaching.
“Being a teacher at the middle school, it is fun to have a lot of former students here that I get to see as they grow up,” Lashley said. “It is also fun to be on an all-female staff and team because I feel like there is this good energy that I love.”
According to sophomore Emma Grande-Esqueda, being a part of flag football is great because it is a great environment to be in and everyone respects one another. She said she loves that the team is there for one another to cheer each other up.
“This group is supportive of everyone’s accomplishments and being able to help each other out with their flaws, which I believe is a really good aspect of a sport,” Grande-Esqueda said. “You may not be feeling the best when you come to a practice or a game, but having the awesome energy around you can really lift your spirits up.”
Sophomore Indigo Shoneman, a quarterback for the JV Orange team, said a motivator for her to play flag football is the opportunity to be involved in something new that no one at Park has done before. She said she appreciates that this is an opportunity for more girls to participate in a usually male-dominated sport.
“The flag football community is honestly super great and I love that it is a chance for more people to get involved with a sport that has been male-dominated for such a long time,” Schoneman said. “That was a really big part of it for me because it is a super cool opportunity and I love telling people that I am on the first girls flag football team for our school.”
According to Lashley, she has many goals for the team this year. She said her main goal is to build up the team and encourage more people to join and get involved. She said she hopes to help girls experience a new sport and to try new things because this new team is a good opportunity.
“One of our main goals for this season is to build up the girls flag football program and have a lot of different girls from our school from different sports, friend groups and grades involved in this community,” Lashley said. “It’s cool for all of us to be trailblazers of a new sport for women in our state and it’s awesome that we have a lot of athletes on our team who have never been in an organized sport before.”
According to Grande-Esqueda, the flag football team is different compared to other sports teams because it has a special community and is a great place for athletes who have never done many organized sports before. She said she likes that it gets her active and energized, and appreciates that this is a sport that she is able to show up to.
“I didn’t get into many sports growing up, often because I was not able to make the games and practices due to timing. Flag is on days that I can go to and it is not every day of the week, which I really value,” Grande-Esqueda said. “Being part of this sport gets me out of the house and helps me feel energized, due to being in a very passionate community that helps me learn to be involved in a sport that is usually dominated by men. It helps show that, as women, we can do as many things as men can and it’s all about the experiences and memories.”
Schoneman said handling setbacks and challenges during the flag football season can be tough, especially since this sport is just starting out, so it is really important to make sure that players are still supporting the team and showing up no matter what.
“Everything is just taken in stride. I am playing two sports and have a sprained thumb right now, but I think that showing up to practice, even if you are not able to do a lot, is still helpful. We are all learning a lot and trying our best so everyone just needs to be supportive,” Schoneman said.
Lashley said she wants all of the girls on the flag football team to feel accomplished for trying something new and possibly something that might have been out of their comfort zone. She said she wants them to take away the proud feeling of doing something that has not been done before at Park.
“I hope that the players will be proud of themselves for trying a new thing because that can be hard. Just learning and being risk-takers on something that no one on our team has ever done is a big thing and I want them to take that thought with them throughout the season,” Lashley said.
The teams have their next games May 4 at Robbinsdale Cooper High school against Champlin Park and Cooper at 4pm and 5pm.
