Just two years ago, schools across the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark legislation protecting female athletes from sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational programs. 

Continuing its focus on expanding girls sports, the California Interscholastic Federation Council voted to add girls flag football as a statewide sanctioned sport in February of2023.  California is now one of 12 states with sanctioned girls flag football. 

Athletic director Jennifer Crane said Paly introduced the sport at the start of this school year, marking a huge moment in its sports history. 

“It’s amazing to see the interest in female sports and the excitement behind starting it,” Crane said. “There are a lot of athletes and stakeholders that are very excited for this across the state.” 

However, Crane said the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League decided to postpone its inaugural flag football season from fall 2023 to fall 2024 to ensure the sport could be launched with careful planning and consideration. 

“It was a big undertaking, and we wanted to make sure that when we rolled it out as a league, we had proper schedules and teams to play,” Crane said.

Crane said introducing the sport at Paly was also difficult because of all the other sports that occur during the fall season.

“We found someone to donate money for the program, buy uniforms, buy flags and footballs, which was really nice,” Crane said. “Then some challenges occurred. If you can imagine, we have limited facilities, and we already have fall sports that have been well established for years that require field space.”

Despite these hurdles, Crane said everything worked out, leading to the successful launch of flag football 

“Now that we’ve rolled it out, it doesn’t seem to have impacted many other sports — I think it kind of evened things out,” Crane said.

Sophomore Archer Sherry,, said the introduction of girls flag football has broken long-standing stereotypes.

“With football, it’s been predominantly a male sport, and we’ve only had a girl on the boys football team,” Sherry said. “I think the introduction of this team is creating more opportunities for girls to get involved in their own sports.” 

Junior Lara Saslow, who plays on the girls and boys football team, said she is excited to finally be able to play on a girls football team.

“I’m glad that I can play another position other than kicker, which is what I do on the (boys) tackle team,” Saslow said. “I’m not as disadvantaged because of my size.”

Saslow also said the sport opens doors for female athletes

“It’s a new sport that provides opportunities for girls with the set of skills that the sport requires,” Saslow said. “A lot of girls are choosing to play itbecause they haven’t played other sports before, and it’s good for your well-being.”

Sherry agrees and said flag football utilizes the perfect combination of her athletic abilities and her personal aspirations in sports.

“I had always really wanted to play a team sport and be able to play a sport that used the strength of running and endurance without fear of getting hurt,” Sherry said.

Because of this she said she hopes to make the sport welcoming to new girls and expand the team

“We’re all on our own wavelength, learning at our own pace, with different skill levels,” Sherry said. “We’ve already cemented a very supportive, friendly environment, and we’re hoping to grow it — we’re all learning.”

Above all, Sherry said the team’s inaugural season is an opportunity to continue to grow and bond in practices rather than focus on results.

“We have a lot of girls out already, so how we do this season doesn’t really matter as long as we are out there trying our best and spreading the word around the school,” she said. “Hopefully it’ll grow, and we’ll get more participation from athletes in other sports.”

Having established the girls field hockey team at Paly, growing the team from 19 players to a full roster, Crane said she hopes to do the same with flag football.

“I’ve seen a program through from the very beginning, from the ground up, our first year here,” Crane said. “As it becomes more established in the Paly athletic community — athletes talking to other athletes, students talking to students, spreading the word — I hope to also see us have a JV program in the next four years.”