By: Gabrielle DeFreezer
Over time there has only been men's football at the school, but in 2020 Hillgrove had their first official girls flag football team. The team was led by Coach Pickney and Mrs. Sweet and the team ended up winning State Championships that same year it was made.
Flag Football challenged female stereotypes as people felt girls were not “physically capable” to play such a sport and it also allowed women to ability to create teamwork, improve fitness and develop leadership skills. As a student, Irene says, “Flag Football taught me to be a leader and a role model to those younger than me.” To most upperclassmen it has taught them how to be a leader and to motivate their teammates when they need help. Irene also states how “when I am in practice, and I see that one of my teammates are getting something wrong whether it’s a play or grabbing flags, I go over and try to direct them towards the right path.”
One of the things about being a team playing is creating bonds with your teammates and being able to cooperate on and off the field. For flag football Mary Wade explains what she does with her team, “We do bonding activities like going out to eat and hanging out and we have separate group chats we play games together.” Being on a team doesn’t always mean that you just have to focus on that sport with the team, Like Mary Wade and her flag football team, they have created a special bond and because of that they want to spend time with each other and hang out outside of practice and games.
When finding out that there was going to be a flag football team for girls many were surprised and excited for a chance to do something that boys can do to. Within the years of playing some players explained how they didn’t have the best experience being on the team and some said that they had some enjoyable experiences other years. Madison a student explained how, “Last year wasn’t the best for me because of the coaching style and the teammates. The coaching style was different because the coach did not include everyone, and my teammates didn’t show effort.” Other students had agreed with her and explained how there were some toxic traits shown within coaches and that returning players said that they're season before that was much better and fun with the coaches and teammates.
Over time there has only been men's football at the school, but in 2020 Hillgrove had their first official girls flag football team. The team was led by Coach Pickney and Mrs. Sweet and the team ended up winning State Championships that same year it was made.
Flag Football challenged female stereotypes as people felt girls were not “physically capable” to play such a sport and it also allowed women to ability to create teamwork, improve fitness and develop leadership skills. As a student, Irene says, “Flag Football taught me to be a leader and a role model to those younger than me.” To most upperclassmen it has taught them how to be a leader and to motivate their teammates when they need help. Irene also states how “when I am in practice, and I see that one of my teammates are getting something wrong whether it’s a play or grabbing flags, I go over and try to direct them towards the right path.”
One of the things about being a team playing is creating bonds with your teammates and being able to cooperate on and off the field. For flag football Mary Wade explains what she does with her team, “We do bonding activities like going out to eat and hanging out and we have separate group chats we play games together.” Being on a team doesn’t always mean that you just have to focus on that sport with the team, Like Mary Wade and her flag football team, they have created a special bond and because of that they want to spend time with each other and hang out outside of practice and games.
When finding out that there was going to be a flag football team for girls many were surprised and excited for a chance to do something that boys can do to. Within the years of playing some players explained how they didn’t have the best experience being on the team and some said that they had some enjoyable experiences other years. Madison a student explained how, “Last year wasn’t the best for me because of the coaching style and the teammates. The coaching style was different because the coach did not include everyone, and my teammates didn’t show effort.” Other students had agreed with her and explained how there were some toxic traits shown within coaches and that returning players said that they're season before that was much better and fun with the coaches and teammates.