Raiders, UNLV team up to empower girls via flag football

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – UNLV and the Las Vegas Raiders are coming together to create a program focused on empowering middle school girls through flag football.

Other groups in the Las Vegas valley are using sports to boost body image and mental well-being.

Grit, no fear, and getting the job done on a football field.

Flag football is growing in popularity for women. It’s like football but without the tackle.

“I would be on boys’ teams, and I would be fighting for positions,” 15-year-old Yolana Huff said.

What was once a dream for Huff is now a dream come true.

Sharing the same love is 15-year-old Telia Jury.

It’s a way for these girls who play for the non-profit NXT LVL Sports to escape their stresses.

“If I’m struggling with mental health, I’ll come to the field and just work out,” Jury said.

Ozzy Mora: “You take your anger out on the field?”

“Yeah, most definitely all the time,”Jury said.

“My coaches [are] trying to get me to open up and that [has] really helped me to stop overthinking,” Huff said.

“Our program is unique in that way where we allow anybody to come in,” NXT LVL Sports coach Darrell Johnson said.

Johnson teaches the girls to lead by using their emotional struggles.

“And I believe that helps you grow in your mental state to make you tougher and say you know what I been here before,” Johnson said.

Experts telling 8 News Now Ozzy Mora that people who hold c-suite roles, at least 80% of them participated in sports in high school or college.

Now, UNLV and the Las Vegas Raiders are providing middle school girls a chance.

“Middle school girls are twice as likely to drop out of sports compared to middle school boys,” UNLV professor Jennifer Pharr with UNLV said. “Girls are really struggling right now with mental health.”

A problem Pharr said she recognizes.

Pharr is the champion behind the pilot program Raiders, UNLV, Sport and Health, or RUSH.

It’s a one-day event introducing sixth through eighth-grade girls to flag football.

“They’re going to get football skills, we going to teach them fundamentals, how you stand [and] how you start,” Myles Hayes with the Raiders said.

Hayes practices with the girls at the Intermountain Health Performance Center.

“To play in this space the better,” he said.

A space in different football fields for young girls like Huff and Jury to keep on running the fields even better than the boys.

Pharr said the program is still in its pilot year. She and Hayes said the only way parents can enroll their child in the program is by expressing interest with their direct school counselor.

As for the group NXT LVL, Coach Darrell said girls interested in playing can reach out to him directly at 702-469-9463. For more information on the RUSH program click HERE.

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