Ella Johnson
The Athens Drive Flag Football team celebrates after their win against East Wake High School. This was the second game day, and it determined whether they would make it to the Sup-Her-Bowl
This 2023-2024 school year, the Carolina Panthers announced they would be donating $50,000 to Wake County to kickstart Women’s flag football at 19 public schools and private school Cardinal Gibbons. With over 500 girls participating in the inaugural season, the sport was a major success. The season was composed of three game days, with the last being called the “Sup-Her-Bowl”. But despite the popularity of the sport and the goal of getting it to become a sanctioned varsity sport, flag football’s future is unclear.
Flag football has been introduced recently in several states. So far Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Nevada, Alaska, New York, Arizona, Illinois and California have flag football as a sanctioned sport. Other states, including North Carolina, are attempting to get it sanctioned after “trial periods.” The sport got much attention from news outlets and other states who want to follow suit. However, due to the new budget proposal for Wake County, the fate of flag football will be determined by a vote on May 7.
Even though the $2 million proposal includes an increase of $49 million for public schools, the pay for coaches wasn’t included. However, the budget proposed included a decrease in the parking pass price, from $200 to $175. Board members believe that keeping the pay the same will be enough for flag football to continue, and are lobbying for that choice at the upcoming meeting.
However, Deran Coe, the athletic director for Wake County, has announced that he is committed to fighting for flag football and the female athletes in Wake County. There are many benefits to playing sports, such as more focus, more support for the school, better attendance and more. He wants to make sure that those benefits are available to everyone. This sport created a new interest in hundreds of girls who may not have played sports otherwise.
“It had a great impact specifically on female athletes and created a great opportunity to showcase their skills, athleticism, and competitiveness,” said Coe “It also created an opportunity for people to represent their schools in ways they may not have before, and reap the benefits of athletics.”
Coe believes that flag football WILL be included. There’s a huge pushback from schools across the county, and several board members are lobbying for the proposal to be changed to include funding. Girls are pushing back by emailing board members, creating petitions and other ways of “protesting” the decision to keep their sport.
“Board members are interested in keeping it, so there’s certainly a chance that it could end up in the budget,” said Coe “Even if that isn’t the case, I’m committed to work to make sure we can fund the sport, whether it’s included (in the budget) or not.”
Coe explained that even if flag football isn’t included in the budget, it is important to know that it will most likely still happen. The budgeting is only to supplement coaches’ pay because sports are funded by ticket revenue, fundraisers, etc. Even without the extra boost from the school board, flag football could function by itself.
The flag football coach, Tyler Granger, says that this past season has been an amazing opportunity for the players. It allowed female athletes to try a new sport in an accepting environment because everyone was learning it together.
“We put a lot of time, money, and effort into bringing this opportunity to female athletes, and it would be incredibly disappointing if we couldn’t keep it for the future,” said Granger. “I feel optimistic that it will find a way to happen, but at the same time it’s disappointing that there is the potential that it won’t.”
When asked about the future of the sport, Granger says he hopes he can continue coaching and lead the next season’s teams to the Sup-Her-Bowl. Next season, they will play from October through December and have up to 20 games. Unlike this previous season, when the games were played on Saturdays, they will be played during the week
“Obviously, I hope that we can work it out and have another successful season of flag football!” said Granger.