As temperatures fall, a small but determined group of bulldogs are braving the cold to participate in Garfield’s second flag football season. Garfield had its inaugural season last year, playing games against nine other Metro League teams including Nathan Hale, Holy Names, and Lincoln, while garnering grants from Nike and the Seattle Seahawks. This year, the team returns with confidence.
“We definitely have more people on the team that are trying to get involved,” Zoe Ozretich, Garfield’s linebacker and receiver, said. Garfield’s quarterback and safety, Sarah Lessig, added, “The overall skill level has improved since last year. I think people are starting to take it more seriously, which is pretty cool.”
Increased participation in flag football isn’t just a trend at Garfield, with participation in the sport increasing by 38% since 2015. Female players have been a huge contributing factor to this growth, prompting New York, Arizona, and California to sanction official high school leagues for girls. Seattle Metro League has yet to recognize girl’s flag football as an official sport.
“Right now we’re just an activity, which is not ideal because we probably don’t have as much funding as actual sports,” Ozretich said. “We aren’t supposed to get help from Miss Rachel, the trainer, which is really unfortunate.”
However, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association received $250,000 from the Seattle Seahawks in 2021 to fund programs across Washington State. The Seahawks also hosted a flag football tournament and jamboree last year to encourage participation in the sport. This has already made a difference in the league with three new schools having joined this season, helping grow the league’s competitiveness.
In addition to campaigning for flag football to be recognized as an official sport, the Garfield flag football team is also looking to improve on the field this year. “We’ve only had two games so far. We lost one. We won one. So I think we can definitely pull through for a lot of wins and hopefully get further than last season,” Ozretich said. “I think we have a lot of potential. I am looking forward to hopefully doing the Seahawks tournament again,” Lessig added. With the growth flag football has recently seen, Garfield’s girl’s flag football has a promising future.
The best way to support the team and the growth of the girls flag football league is to go to the games! Link to game schedule:
