RACINE — Girls in southeastern Wisconsin are getting a new opportunity to learn and play football this fall as NFL FLAG Football launches as a club sport across three school districts.
NFL Flag Football will be available to female student athletes in the Racine Unified, Kenosha Unified, and Whitefish Bay school districts. The program's launch comes as NCAA colleges, including UW-Parkside, are now offering scholarships for the sport, which will also be featured in the 2028 Olympics.
"It's just another opportunity for us girls to get out there and get recognized for being an athlete," said Madison Gomez, a student at Park High School who intends to play flag football this fall.
Former Green Bay Packer Donald Driver, who initially announced the league in January, returned to Racine to help prospective players learn the skills they will need ahead of what will be a historic season.
"We want to give these girls an opportunity in this platform to accomplish something great," Driver said Tuesday.
Students got the chance to learn the game and test their skills at a camp Tuesday.
"Defense, learning how to pull flags, how to correctly catch a ball, how to run plays, it's been a lot of fun," said McKynna Szymandera, a student at Case High School.
Szymandera, who hopes to play in the league this fall, said she has long had an interest in the sport.
"I've always been interested in football. I thought it's been so cool, like just watching," Szymandera said.
She also welcomed the broader shift the program represents.
"It's great that women all around are just getting new opportunities that we didn't have before, and it's just growing the things that us women can do," Szymandera said.
Aleigha Zold, a student at Horlick, said that element of the opportunity "feels awesome, amazing."
"I never did it before, but I'm loving it," Zold said. "Other people should really try it out."
While many students Tuesday were getting their first taste of playing the sport, some were already thinking about longterm possibilities.
"I'm honestly looking at it now," Gomez said. "A lot of new scholarships will be opening, which would help pay for college."
"Longterm, do it for the rest of my life," Zold said.
Coaches were equally encouraged by what they saw from the players Tuesday.
"If they make mistakes, they're still smiling. That's the main thing: keeping them encouraged, so they will want to play come fall," said Casey Robbins, who intends to coach the flag football team at Park High School.
"Try something new," he said. "That's the only way we can grow as humans. And you never know. If you like it, you might even be great at it. You just don't know until you try it."
"What a great opportunity that it presents for that female athlete should they be successful in this sport," said Jose Ramirez, who will coach Horlick's flag football team.
Both coaches celebrated another option for female student athletes to excel in sports.
"Just having a different avenue is going to be key for a lot of these student athletes," Ramirez said.
The hope is that the sport will soon be sanctioned by the WIAA.
"The greatest opportunity right now that we have is that if we can get the state of Wisconsin sanctioned, and if this is the starting point to make that happen, then, why not?" Driver said.
Interested students will be able to register for the league this fall.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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