By John Rohlf, The Message assistant editor
In less than a week, Mater Dei High School in Evansville will take the field for the school’s first ever girls flag football game.
Mater Dei is one of two diocesan high schools to join the growing list of Indiana schools to offer girls flag football, with Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville also fielding a flag football team. The Wildcats have 21 players on the team for their inaugural season.
Mater Dei Athletic Director and assistant coach Sam Fleming said during the spring, they had a sign up to see the interest level in the program. They had 12 players sign up in the spring before growing to 21 players this fall.
“It’s been pretty good so far,” Fleming said. “A lot of excitement and there’s a lot of excitement coming up too through the feeder schools. The process has been really easy thanks to the Colts (and) what they’ve been doing with the IHSAA.”
Mater Dei senior Macy Lankford is one of many Wildcat players learning the sport. She thinks Mater Dei offering flag football puts a spotlight on girls sports and how they are emerging right now.
Mater Dei senior Josie Walker noted the importance of having a version of football available in which the girls can participate.
“Obviously, everybody knows football’s super big, especially here in southern Indiana,” Walker said. “So I think it’s kind of important to have a girls version of that, which I see becoming really big.”
Mater Dei Head Coach Tara Schnur said early on in practice, they focused on the fundamentals of flag football, including catching, passing and learning routes. They have also spent time learning the rules of the sport.
Schnur hopes to see the team grow in their skill in the sport over the course of the season.
“Learning the sport and having the excitement to pass along so that the program grows is important,” Schnur said.
Lankford said there was “definitely a learning curve.” Walker said she has watched football, noting her brother played football until his sophomore year. While it is not fully new to her, participating in the sport “has been kind of a new experience.”
Fleming said the girls have all been working really hard and improving from practice to practice. They are still figuring out who is going to play where on the field, but he noted they have eight or nine games to figure that out before sectionals.
Walker said right now, the Wildcats are focusing on themselves and how they can grow.
“We don’t know what to expect and they don’t know what to expect either,” Lankford said. “But at this point, I think we’re just focusing on what we need to improve instead of how they’re going to come at us.”
Fleming said it is “very nice” that Reitz Memorial and Castle High School in Newburgh will also have girls flag football teams. He said one of the final reasons to decide to proceed with offering girls flag football was having an in town option for games.
“We’ll be playing them quite a bit on Wednesdays,” Fleming said. “So hopefully we get a lot of people out. I know there’s a lot of interest and it’s going to be exciting.”
Mater Dei will open the season Sept. 3 at Castle High School.