Last week, athletic director Sandy Mamary announced that WHS will launch a girls flag football team this spring to compete in the recently created New Jersey high school league. The groundbreaking program was initiated by the NFL two years ago in the state of New Jersey, and this year WHS has been invited to participate.
The New York Jets own three conferences in northern New Jersey and are looking to infiltrate the rest of state through their Nike High School Girls Flag Football League. Since the Jets are sponsoring the program, they are giving money and support for uniforms, footballs and flags. Student-athletes won’t have to pay a dime to participate.
On Tuesday, there was an interest meeting introducing the girls to volunteer head coach Matthew Andzel. Andzel currently works as a physical education teacher at Franklin Elementary School and Jefferson Elementary School. With experience as an assistant coach for the boys varsity football team and as the jumping coach for boys track and field, Andzel plans to make a big contribution to this monumental program. He stated that this league will “create a base for the future” and bring more athletic opportunities to girls at high school and collegiate levels.
“This is the only sport that girls never had an opportunity to play,” said Mamary. “We play everything that boys play, and now we’re going to get the chance to play football.”
The season is set to begin in early March, around the same time varsity-level spring sports begin at WHS. Currently there are no tryouts, but depending on the amount of girls coming out, this is subject to change. The team is looking to hold 20 or more girls and have one team for this upcoming season as they want to be able to fill in for games and practices when other players cannot attend.
Since this is not yet a NJSIAA sport, spring athletes have the ability to play too, granting flexibility to multi-sport athletes. There will be a couple practices throughout the week, along with games every Sunday with about 25 other schools from NJ participating in this tournament style of play.
As of this year, Kent Place is the only other school from the Union County Conference besides Westfield that will have a girls flag football team. WHS will compete in the Big Central Conference, which includes schools such as Monroe, Metuchen, South Hunterdon, Sayreville and Hillside.
The rules for this league differ from the commonly known rules of tackle football. For example, games are intended to be played with seven members on each team with a running clock unless it is stopped for timeouts.
“Our expectations and goals are for the girls to have as much fun as they can and to learn the game,” said Andzel. He specified that he is not fixated on the wins and losses, but more focused on the girls having fun and getting the opportunity to finally play the game.
Senior lacrosse captain Lily Dickerson shared her excitement coming into this program. She said, “As a media member for the (recreational) boys flag football league this past fall, I was always upset that we didn’t have the chance to play as well. So the fact that we are starting an opportunity for girls to play flag football is super exciting.”
Mamary is positive that this program will grow further as the Westfield PAL has just created a girls flag football league as well for young girls in town. She described the Westfield PAL as a “feeder program” for what’s to come in the future.
Andzel and Mamary believe that girls flag football will soon become a varsity sport for WHS in the coming years once the program’s feet get off the ground. However, right now WHS is just focused on teaching girls more about the game itself and having fun in a competitive environment.
WHS hopes to bring attention to female participation in the sport and filter this to more high schools and even colleges throughout the US. Although girls flag football is mainly centered around the East Coast, it is beginning to spread west thanks to the installation of these new programs.
Mamary is not only focused on the short-term benefits that this girls flag football league will achieve, but the long-term benefits as well. “I just keep thinking about the opportunities that this brings for girls later in life. Now [girls] can understand more about football and use this as another tool to socialize when they are adults and be a part of those conversations,” said Mamary. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us competitively and socially.”
