Girl's flag football will be a high school sport in San Diego for the first time in the 2023-24 school year. The new opportunity for high school athletes comes at a time when the popularity of the sports is soaring.
It's estimated that the number of girls playing flag football has doubled nationwide in the last decade.
The girl's flag football boom has been building for years, especially in North San Diego County where one league in particular was among the first to see the influx of girls on the football field.
Ten years ago, Friday Night Lights in the Carlsbad area had about 20 girls playing in their flag football league. Now, the league has around 250 girls playing.
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"Around 10% of the league is girls playing flag football and it's fun to watch," said Paul Publico, co-commissioner of North County Coastal Friday Night Lights.
It’s fun to watch and it’s happening on a level playing field. Games are not just girls versus girls teams, it’s girls playing with and against boys, and playing well.
"I've seen girls win 5th and 6th-grade division championships," Publico said. "These girls with high ponytails and matching ensembles dominate boys."
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"Yeah, they come out with pigtails and all of sudden they're up by four touchdowns because they are so fast and explosive," Thadd MacNeal, co-commissioner of North County Coastal Friday Night Lights, said.
On a Friday night in May, one girl's team won 40-0, another 59-14. Big wins by girls teams are actually pretty common and so are big-time highlights. Everywhere you look on the fields, you see girls flying around pulling flags, throwing bombs, taking it to the house and smiling in the end zone.
Of course, touchdowns are preferred, but these girls have plenty of football favorites.
"Pick 6"
"Throwing a touchdown."
"Pulling a flag."
Those were a few of the answers from girls when asked what their favorite football play is.
Another common answer to that question was "beating the boys."
Beating the boys, changing mindsets, breaking down gender barriers — those are themes you hear a lot from these fantastic female footballers.
"I like beating the guys and showing that girls do know how to play football and not just guys, and we can play like them," said Tagan Thomas, a 7th-grade girl.
After a game, 8th grader Finley said, "It felt really good, especially to score against that boy that was talking smack."
Her teammate Riley added, "The best part is when you smoke the boys. Their dads get even more upset, so it's really fun."
As for being able to play flag football in high school, many of the girls who have spent years growing the sport, felt like it's a meaningful, powerful pigskin progression.
"It's about time honestly that we get out there."
"I think it's super cool that it's such a male-run sport that it's finally coming to women and it will be super awesome to take it to a new level and inspire younger generations."
While it's unclear just how many San Diego-area high schools will field teams this first season, you can expect to see girls flag football high school games this fall around San Diego.
