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<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFlag soccer has seen a latest rise in participation, and the ladies at Oakland Technical Excessive Faculty are having fun with the expertise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\nBethesda, 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. <\/span>\u00a0(Luke Johnson for The Washington Submit through Getty Photos)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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<\/a>, women\u2019 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<\/a> added women flag soccer as a highschool sport. Flag soccer will even see its Summer season Olympic Video games debut in 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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\u2019s deal with soccer leagues within the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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. \u201c\u200aI’ve one thing to do, hold my thoughts off of wrestling, so it helps rather a lot in wrestling as properly,\u201d Ward stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n Different gamers, like freshman Sanae Struthers, have discovered a way of belonging on the group.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI get lots of people telling me that I can\u2019t do one thing simply because I’m a feminine and I’m a ninth grader,\u201d stated Struthers. And though she retains a full schedule with different athletics and choir, in addition to incomes straight A\u2019s, the flag soccer area provides a way of calm, she stated. \u201cI do know that I can come on the sphere and be myself with out anyone judging me.\u201d<\/p>\n