WILMINGTON — Flag football has gained a toehold on the Delaware high school sports scene, and three Catholic institutions were in on the ground floor as the sport grows in popularity and numbers across the United States.
Padua Academy, Saint Mark’s High School and Ursuline Academy were three of the schools that had teams in 2024. All three teams traveled to the fourth, Delaware Military Academy, on Sept. 18 for a playday a week before the regular season got started. The three-week regular season began the next Wednesday, and the semifinals and championship were played Oct. 16 at DMA’s Fusco Field. Saint Mark’s defeated Padua on a last-second touchdown to win the title. From all indications, the sport is on track to grow in Delaware as it has elsewhere.
A large crowd gathered at DMA to watch the teams take turns scrimmaging each other in mid-September, with two teams on each half of the field. Two hours later, all of the girls, their coaches and the referees gathered at midfield for a photograph to commemorate the occasion.
Jeremy Jeanne, the athletic director at Delaware Military, said the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association sent out a letter last year introducing flag football to the state’s athletic directors. The National Football League has made a big push to grow the game across the country, with teams providing equipment and other support to high schools in their markets.
Pennsylvania’s high school athletics governing body sanctioned the sport the same day as the event at DMA, joining 12 other states in officially offering the sport. Several others, including Delaware, are conducting pilot programs, and still more have shown interest in the sport, according to High School OT.
The National Federation of State High School Associations reports that nearly 43,000 girls participated in flag football last year, an increase of 105 percent from 2022-23. The sport will be included in the 2028 Summer Olympics for men and women.
DMA has held a powder puff game each year, “and we have hundreds of girls playing,” Jeanne said. “So, I looked at it, and I was like, ‘Wow, they already love playing flag football. Why not make it a sport?’ That’s kind of how everything came about.”
Padua, Saint Mark’s and Ursuline soon got on board. Padua juniors Miki Hane and Ellie Semmel were excited to join the team.
“I used to play volleyball, but I’m not playing volleyball anymore,” Hane said. “So, I needed something that got me up. I wanted something fun. I figured flag was something new. I’ve never done it before.”
Semmel said football has always been a big deal in her family, so this was something she latched on to quickly.
“My dad played. My brother played. Big sports family. We watch the Eagles every Sunday,” she said.
She recalled a discussion in one of her classes about forming a powder puff team. At the end of the last school year, she found out Padua would be sponsoring flag football.
“I was on that immediately when I heard it,” Semmel said. She was not alone. The Pandas have 34 players and three managers on the roster.
The reaction was the same at Saint Mark’s, according to juniors Nabra Morris and Addie Till. Morris said she cheers but doesn’t do any other varsity sports.
“We were really excited to have a flag football team,” she said. One of the best parts of the experience thus far has been “getting close with the team. We all had a really strong bond, and we were all there for each other.”
Till is a wrestler for the Spartans, one of a growing number of girls who participate in that sport. She is thrilled to see flag football start in Delaware.
“I know that it’s a girls team, and I’ve been waiting to have girls wrestling in the state of Delaware,” Till said. “It just creates a community, and I’m glad to see all the girls in Delaware are coming together to put this thing on.”
Ursuline freshman Chloe “Cash” Lopez said she was a bit tired after the playday since the Raiders had a smaller roster than the other schools, “but we all pulled this together as a team.” She was encouraged by the camaraderie and positive vibes that filled Fusco Field.
“Just to see them all work together and play and be a community, it was a really great sight to see,” she said.
Football is also a big part of Sami Godfrey’s family experience, the Ursuline sophomore said. She played volleyball last year but made the move to flag.
“I’ve always loved football,” said Godfrey, whose mother, Katie, is the athletic director at Salesianum School. “I was very, very excited when I learned that we were going to have a flag football league in Delaware.”
Godfrey and the other players are hopeful that the DIAA will be sponsoring flag football as an official varsity sport, complete with a state championship, sooner rather than later. To do that, a minimum of 16 schools must offer the sport, and the DIAA board of directors has to approve the addition.
“I hope this grows to be big,” Till said. “I want this.”
Jeanne said the overhead for the sport isn’t too prohibitive, especially with the support from the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens. He was pretty optimistic after the event at his school.
“Just seeing the girls competing, having a good time, cheering each other, I didn’t expect that, to be honest. I don’t know, my heart is full right now.”
