EAST ORANGE, NJ — The title of this piece has yet to begin to describe the changes in popular male-dominated sports which traditionally left our fairer halves out of the club. Traditional female sports that are not relatively heavy on the contact, such as tennis, track and field, swimming/diving and gymnastics, are now taking a backseat to the more rougher contact sports, like soccer, softball, lacrosse, field hockey, hockey, basketball and yes even the granddaddy – better make that grandmomma of them all – football.
Over the past few years, the uptick in all these sports has been nothing short of phenomenal. But the story wasn’t all that great prior to the start of COVID–19. As a male sportswriter, I have had the privilege of grabbing front row seats, to this big swing in female-oriented sports. But much like all sportswriters and pundits, never was the surprise in girls and women playing football on a more regular basis, whether it was in full pads playing against the fellas in the trenches, scoring touchdowns through the air and/or on the ground with their God-given speed, catching ability and with their arms. On the flipside of that, they were lockdown defensive backs and linebackers showing the fellas they can deliver a very necessary hard hit with the game on the line.
Some of the best-case scenarios come from the youth ranks. It’s very common for girls to play with the boys in contact sports between the ages of 7-12 years old prior to both going into their pubescent development. By the time girls hit their middle school years, sports, like football and hockey, are quickly taken off the table or deviated to an all-girls league which is safe to say that hockey has the frozen puck up in this case. Now there have been various professional female football leagues that saw some serious competition in their heyday. There have been movies, documentaries and even “special presentations” produced via live television. No matter what the genre, football has created a holistic approach in engaging its female fans and players.
It all started out as part of a national initiative developed by the National Football League, to have kids of all ages participate in 60 minutes of fun intramural sports, like flag football, 7 vs. 7 tournaments, Pass, Punt, Kick Skills Challenge and simulated combines. One of the biggest areas for these competitions outside the warm locales of Texas, Florida and southern California, is actually here in the double tri-state region of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. What’s even better is the fact that there are at least three active professional NFL teams that are sponsoring the game through local and state high school athletic associations.
The New York Giants, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles all have embraced this pilot program, so much so that girls flag football is currently on track to be adopted and ratified by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association as a new sport at the youth and high school level. The American Youth Football, a national youth football and cheer program, has recently announced that a full season for girls flag football will commence at the start of the 2023 season where youth associations throughout the country will have the opportunity to play for league, conference, state, regional and national playoffs.
One clear example of the national tournament is Irvington High School’s Lady Blue Knights. Irvington will be heading to the famed Nike competition in Beaverton, Ore., this month to compete among the best of the best in girls flag football.
When speaking to local coaches, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that they are all for it. East Orange Campus head football coach John Jacob, in a recent interview, said that with all that has transpired in the past couple of years, he’s happy to see girls playing a sport that was not actively available to them. When asked about girls playing a more active role on the boys tackle team, he simply stated that the girls who try out are treated the same. Two years ago, East Orange had the first female score a touchdown against Barringer on a 2-yard run. Jessica Felix, who is now in college, set the tone for the first all-girls flag football team at East Orange Campus High School, a few months later when the New York Jets and New York Giants, along with the National Football League PLAY 60 initiative, in partnership with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, started the first club level girls football league at the high school level.
In the last few years, the sport has grown to crown state champions in each of the five groups where they all played at MetLife Stadium as the crowning point for each group champion, along with the opportunity to grow in popularity. This year was the first time that girls high school flag football had its version of the Phil Simms North vs. South All-Star Classic where the North girls team won by a touchdown.
The sport has grown by leaps and bounds to include the girls youth level, which is also being recognized by national youth sports organizations, like USA Football, American Youth Football and Pop Warner.
Locally, East Orange Girls Elite has already played in both league play and a national schedule this summer. Competing at the 13U level, they traveled to Charlotte, N.C., bringing their Jersey swagger to the One Flag Championship held at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte. The national event was held July 7-9, where some of the best girls flag football teams from around the country showed up and showed out. East Orange Girls Elite flexed their power and might as they provided a show for all in attendance.
East Orange program director Tyrone Miles and East Orange girls flag football head coach Kaleena Koon have been high on their team as they wanted to help the community’s girls learn the game and possibly play at the high school level. With all the possibilities around, it was a no-brainer for the East Orange Recreation Department to create East Orange Elite Girls Flag Football when they were approached by the Paterson Recreation Department, where they had started a flag league fielding roughly seven teams in the age groups of 9-13.
East Orange was the lone team that was outside of Paterson. The league did not have a formal championship game for each of the teams that played in late June. However, they did play a Jamboree-styled “playoff game” where each of the teams were given game swag after their game. Both Miles and Koon said they want to make this a yearly thing for the East Orange team. It would be Koon who would drive the point home where the girls are definitely making football their sport and the boys will have to just move over because it’s ‘her’ turn to play.
Photos Courtesy of Kerry E. Porter
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