After months of anticipation, flag football is officially an Illinois High school Association (IHSA) sanctioned sport.

IHSA removed flag football from the Emerging Sports list, a list of sports that only a select number of schools have athletes participating in. The list includes sports such as lacrosse and boys’ badminton, which have been considered emerging sports for a very long time, Athletic Director Tom Mietus said. Due to flag football’s popularity, it is now an official IHSA sport, Mietus said.

“The IHSA saw that there was interest,” Mietus said. “At the end of the season, they gathered all the data and they said, ‘Okay, we have enough teams to make it a sanctioned sport.’”

During the fall season, flag football participated in the state championship at Halas Hall, the headquarters of the Chicago Bears. South lost a tough fight to Lane Tech, 18-15. Despite this, Varsity Flag Football Head Coach Thomas Godbout said that flag football’s future is bright.

“Now that we are sanctioned, we will be linked up with the school like all of the other official IHSA-sanctioned high school sports,” Godbout said. “We will be able to get on the school website and have a lot more abilities in growing the sport.”

Becoming an official sport in Illinois is a very compelling and motivating aspect for girls’ flag football, Godbout explained. Their journey to state last year set the expectation and standard for the future, Godbout
explained.

“Our athletes set the bar pretty high last season, so we are looking to build on that momentum next season,” Godbout said. “Not only do we want to win our conference again, but take the state title as well and be the first team to win the championship as a fully sanctioned sport in Illinois.”

The sanction for the sport also gives more opportunities for girls. They get the chance to participate
and celebrate the sports here at South, Mietus explained.

“It just gives our girls another sport, another opportunity to be involved,” Mietus said. “For me, that is the most important thing.”