Flag soccer has seen a latest rise in participation, and the ladies at Oakland Technical Excessive Faculty are having fun with the expertise.
Bethesda, MD – SEPTEMBER 24 – Wootton junior Megan Lotoman rushes down the sphere Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, as Wootton Excessive Faculty women’ flag soccer takes on Walter Johnson Excessive Faculty in Bethesda, Md. (Luke Johnson for The Washington Submit through Getty Photos)
Flag soccer has long-been seen as an alternative choice to deal with soccer, and in recent times, the game has risen in reputation, notably for women. According to USA Football, women’ participation in flag soccer has elevated 57% over a decade, throughout ages six to 17, to greater than 267,000 members in 2024. And in 2023, the California Interscholastic Federation added women flag soccer as a highschool sport. Flag soccer will even see its Summer season Olympic Video games debut in 2028.
Flag soccer carves out an area for feminine athletes in a male-dominated sport. Women and girls should not technically barred from taking part in deal with soccer at any degree, however feminine athletes who play at the highschool degree are uncommon, much more so on the collegiate degree, and no lady has ever performed for the NFL. Nevertheless, there are skilled and semi-professional girls’s deal with soccer leagues within the U.S.
For college students at Oakland Technical Excessive Faculty, which adopted the game in its first playable season, flag soccer builds neighborhood, resilience and alternative; gamers come from all totally different athletic backgrounds.
Some, like tenth grader Layla Ward, had been inspired by their mother and father to hitch the group. Ward is a wrestler, and stated that she finds soccer complicated however becoming a member of the group has had a optimistic impact on her. “ I’ve one thing to do, hold my thoughts off of wrestling, so it helps rather a lot in wrestling as properly,” Ward stated.
Different gamers, like freshman Sanae Struthers, have discovered a way of belonging on the group.
“I get lots of people telling me that I can’t do one thing simply because I’m a feminine and I’m a ninth grader,” stated Struthers. And though she retains a full schedule with different athletics and choir, in addition to incomes straight A’s, the flag soccer area provides a way of calm, she stated. “I do know that I can come on the sphere and be myself with out anyone judging me.”
For Alexis Gray-Lawson who performed within the WNBA in addition to semi-pro flag soccer, teaching Oakland Tech’s women flag soccer group is a method to foster a spot of belonging and for younger individuals to see somebody like her in an athletic management function.
“ It might be good to have extra girls in these roles as a result of there are girls which have unimaginable resumes, whether or not that be with soccer, flag and, or in another sport,” Grey-Lawson stated. “Illustration is de facto vital; for youths to see you no matter what you may have, it can permit different youngsters to have the ability to have the identical expertise.”
The cultural power of Oakland Tech’s flag soccer group is evident, however it’s laborious to look previous the handful of gamers who’re on crutches, sporting knee braces, or sitting out with accidents.
Though the pinnacle accidents that plague deal with soccer should not as pervasive in flag soccer, there are nonetheless dangers. UCSF pediatric sports activities drugs doctor, Dr. Celina De Borja, warns that accidents like concussions and knee accidents can nonetheless be a threat.
“Traditionally, we considered concussions as coming from particularly a head damage or a head-on collision,” stated de Borja. However any collision to the pinnacle or physique that causes the mind to shake could cause a concussion, de Borja stated.
The primary rule is to take a participant that’s suspected to have a concussion out of the sport or follow. “They usually can’t return till they’re absolutely cleared by a clinician,” she stated.
Moreover, girls typically are as much as eight instances extra prone to maintain an ACL damage in comparison with males.
“We see quite a lot of knee accidents in addition to foot and ankle accidents as a result of it’s a chopping and pivoting sport,” stated de Borja of flag soccer.
De Borja is the director of UCSF’s PlaySafe program which has a two decade lengthy partnership with the San Francisco Unified Faculty District to supply athletic coaching employees and medical help throughout highschool athletic video games. “In the perfect setting there are some athletic trainers on the sideline,” who can consider gamers for accidents, stated de Borja.
She stated all sports activities have accidents attribute to the exercise, however she extremely encourages sports activities, particularly for younger athletes, for improved bodily, cardiovascular and psychological well being. “There are vital research that counsel how being a part of a group or taking part in a sport can assist enhance your well being and wellness,” she stated.
A profitable mindset, stated Grey-Lawson, additionally prepares college students for the longer term. “Like, being on time and doing the fitting factor and making the fitting play and being a fantastic group participant,” she stated. “All these issues translate to their lives after flag soccer.”
And for some, like ninth grader Brooke Washington, the sisterhood on the sphere is what makes the expertise. “It’s positively, like, quite a lot of sisterhood. I really feel like all people’s right here for one another, right here to uplift one another, even via our errors.”
