Girls flag football is a new addition this year to Campolindo athletics. The team has started out the season strong, excited for their upcoming games.
The vote to make flag football a recognized sport in California was called for when its growth of interest among players increased recently. The vote was a unanimous agreement among the Organization Federated Council in Long Beach on February 3, 2023. Paula Hart Rodas, the president of OFC and elected for the CIF southern Sections council, really pushed for this sport because she wanted girls to be more involved in high school sports.
In AUHSD, all 4 comprehensive high schools got school board approval last spring to make it a new addition to all schools. Many people put in hard work to get this passed, with Athletic Director at Campolindo Raymond Meadows commenting how, “coaches Lisa and Joe Waldo, our co-head coaches, have been instrumental in organizing, planning, and recruiting players for this year’s team.”
The team has had a couple of scrimmages this season. They say they are practicing with positive attitudes everyday. However, some of the players have admitted that because of the lack of team members it makes it harder to play against other teams. Compared to other schools Campo’s team is smaller, making it more difficult when competing. Furthermore, the lack of upperclassmen has affected the team. Counselor at Campo Amardeep Dhaliwal expressed, “we have a smaller team here. Whereas other schools have a lot of girls and a lot of upper class.”
The main way that flag football differs from tackle football is that instead of tackling, they pull flags. There is no blocking or screening. Additionally, instead of having teams of 11 vs 11 they have teams of 7 vs 7.
The fact that all the players are on the same level in this sport, considering this is the first year this sport has been offered at Campo, has made it easier for the team to bond with each other because they understand the difficulties that everyone is experiencing. Captain of the Flag Football team, junior Grace Allen said, “everyone has the same knowledge base as everyone else because no one really knows what they’re doing. So everyones really positive and nice and supportive of each other, so if you mess up everyone understands and it’s really special.”
Even with all the difficulties that the players have experienced, the team has expressed their appreciation for their coaches. Despite everyone being a little less experienced, the coaches have made the team a positive environment where it is okay to be where you are. Allen said, “I like the coaches. They are great and super positive.”
Lisa Waldo is the current coach for the flag football team. Despite being the school psychologist, she decided to start coaching the team because she played flag football when she was younger and loves the sport. She loves coaching the kids and appreciates the amount of confidence it builds.
They have had multiple scrimmages to start, but their season officially kicked off on September 20th. The final score in the first official games of the season was 7-0 against Benicia and 20-2 against Northgate. Unfortunately they lost both games.
