Pulling Flags, Pushing Limits
Characterized by the Center for Women’s Leadership, Notre Dame is a hub of all things women’s empowerment. Their athletics department jumping at the opportunity to incorporate a girls’ flag football team has further affirmed the school’s values.
On Feb. 3, 2023, the California Interscholastic Federation gave the go-ahead on girls’ flag football finally being available to all high schools in California. The state is the fifth in the country to ever sanction this change, after Nevada, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Over 360 schools are pioneering this historical advancement in this coastal state, with Notre Dame being proudly one of them.
Following the state’s lead, Notre Dame added flag football into their growing sports program. Led by Bellarmine College Prep’s current and former football coaches John Amarilas and Mike Janda, 25 Notre Dame students have welded into a tight-knit team, creating a family like no other. Helena LeDeit‘25, a contributing team member, agrees with this sentiment, noting that the team is “filled with all grades,” and that no one class dominates the roster. She personally revels in the way the environment “brings everyone together,” highlighting Notre Dame’s theme this year, CommUNITY.
The term was coined by faculty member of the math department, Tanisha Fitzgerald, who brought this focus to the table in hopes of creating a foundational safe space for all who exist inside the school community. The word has done exactly what its job is - to form a CommUNITY in an area that simply did not exist a mere few months before. Kate Padlan’25, another member of this trailblazing team, reflects on this “evolutionary” change, saying “I knew nothing about [flag football] but I jumped into it blindly, [and] the coaching and team are really helpful.”
Despite the unfavorable statistics, the athletes have not let their game history affect their spirit or performance. Every day after school, their schoolmates watch in amazement as each and every team member trains hard, not only for personal development, but for the overall improvement of their team. They deck out in their simple practice gear of shorts and a white shirt, with their excellence displayed in their determination.
High School girls’ flag football has only been in motion for a couple of months, but the inspiration that this new development has brought forth is innumerable. LeDeit says that for Notre Dame “to do a sport that is usually very male dominated [is] powerful,” and the legacy that these girls will leave after their first season exemplifies this empowering change. Padlan similarly recognizes that this has had a “positive impact, … showing [that] girls can do these things too.” Girls have been capable of tackling great challenges since the 1960s when flag football was invented. Now in 2023, girls are as capable, if not more so, of pushing back the limits that society attempts to bring forward.
With the first season under their belt, these Notre Dame Regents are flagging down their new goal in the game - dominance.
