After being officially sanctioned by Illinois High School Association (IHSA) in Feb. 2024, flag football has taken off this year. With new recognition came new members, and South’s flag football team has a bright future ahead of them with new players from different or minimal sport backgrounds, senior Emily Lien, varsity Corner and Linebacker, said.
As a new and growing second-year sport, flag football has gained players from all sport backgrounds, Lien said. After making it to the State Finals last season against Lane Tech, the sport generated a lot of interest.
“Last year we didn’t have that many [games] at all, and now we have two to three games per week,” Lien said. “We also get all the benefits of being a real athletic team at South: we get [athletic] lockers, we get to participate in assemblies, and we get our PE exemptions.”
Junior Carlin Endre, JV Wide Receiver and South Softball player, joined flag football because of positive feedback from her friends who played last year. The sport seemed like a fun way to get involved at school while not in season for her main sport, Endre ex-
plained. By being able to play a new sport with friends from completely different areas of athletics, Endre has been able to see an
mprovement in her own skills.
“I went to three practices last year, and I loved it then,” Endre said. “I would definitely say [flag football has made me better] at softball because we practice almost every day, and if we’re not practicing, we have a game. Since I’m catching so many routes in
[football] practices and games, it helps me get a better angle to the ball to be able to run either for a touchdown, or run and throw it
back in softball.”
By having girls who are experienced athletes, and are already aware of the rules of many of South’s sports, and [a mix of] girls who are new to a sport at South, the team is able to improve at a much faster pace, Lien said. Although there are many athletes who do not play another sport, the players used to playing at an intense athletic level also bring many benefits to the team.
Along with benefits the dual-sport athletes bring to the team, the athletes themselves also benefit in many ways by playing Flag Football in the off season, junior Marissa Duri, varsity Middle Linebacker and Jet said. Duri, who’s on South’s soccer team, believes flag football has given her, along with her other teammates, another place to create memories and friendships with a new team.
“[My favorite part about] flag football is the people, because [soccer and flag football have] two really different team [dynamics],” Duri said. “ I am so close to my soccer team, but I also met a bunch of new people on my flag team.”
