Brittany Kelley
KYLE — Female athletes from three high schools in Hays CISD have been hitting the field in a newly-available sport — flag football.
The program began after a local flag football league connected Hays CISD to the Dallas Cowboys, who have been donating items to school districts across Texas to grow the sport.
“They provided everything financially: they pay for the officials that come officiate the game; they gave uniforms; they gave us packages with game balls, pylons — the things you set up in the end zone — cones to use, flags to use; they gave everything to us,” said Hays CISD assistant athletic director Dusty Gibbs.
So, after receiving the donation from the National Football League team, the district communication team sent out interest surveys to all girls at Hays, Johnson and Lehman high schools to gauge whether there was any intrigue.
Flag football, according to Gibbs, is a wide-open, fast-paced version of football, where instead of tackling an opponent, their flag is pulled instead to make the ball “dead at that spot.”
He noted that the sport has gained traction over the years, with nearby districts, such as Austin ISD, adding the sport and it recently being recognized in the Olympics, which made district leadership discuss the opportunity for students. Flag football has also been discussed at the University Interscholastic League to determine whether to sanction it as a sport for schools.
“There was a lot of interest in this [from students] and what was real appealing to this is we always look at the data before we do these things and the Dallas Cowboys actually provided [information] that about 50% to 60% of the girls that participate in flag football don’t play other sports. So, that was important to us. It’s another way to get more kids involved [in an activity],” Gibbs said.
Then, coaches from each high school eagerly volunteered to work with the girls and facilitated the tryouts that led to the now three established teams. Although there is currently one team of seven students, Gibbs stated that there are additional students to fill in gaps when other commitments come up, as some students are in other sports, as well.
The first tournament was hosted March 28, said Gibbs, but each team has played four games, with the records as follows:
• Hays High School: 3-1
• Lehman High School: 4-0
• Johnson High School: 2-1-1
“You don’t really know what to expect when it’s something new and when we hosted at the end of March, I was there for the whole tournament that morning and … [the games] may have been one of the most awesome experiences I’ve ever had in coaching and I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” explained Gibbs. “I went and talked to some of the girls that were playing and a couple of the girls were like, ‘This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.’ The gameplay was wonderful; we have tremendous athletes out here.”
Not only has the program brought the ability to encourage students who were previously uninvolved in sports to join a new activity, but it allows athletes to continue training throughout the offseason. Gibbs stated that when students are involved in sports, their grades, attendance, mental health, social lives and more improve.
As the season continues, the director shared that Hays CISD is hoping to continue its partnership with the Dallas Cowboys and grow the program, as long as the interest is there, including a potential junior varsity team.
He did state that, currently, the district isn’t looking into a male league because many of the traditional football students participate in a sport called 7-on-7. Although it isn’t an official district sport, nearly every player participates outside of school in the off season, so there isn’t a need currently.
Hays CISD will host a second flag football tournament from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 25, at Bob Shelton Stadium. The event is ticketed at $5 per adult and $3 per child.
“It is an awesome experience and those girls do a great job. The sportsmanship is great [and] the competitive play is great. You’ll see some very good athletes on the 25th for those people who want to come out,” concluded Gibbs.
