Flag football exploding in Section Five

GREECE, N.Y. (WROC) — Josh Allen is a role model for many football players across the country. Boys have modeled their game after him.

Girls now can, too.

“I look up to a lot of the NFL quarterbacks,” Greece Arcadia sophomore quarterback Ashanti Caton said. “Looking at their moves. All the stuff that they do. I look up to that because I want to be as good as them one day.”

Caton is one of the many high school girls now participating in flag football, one of Section Five’s newest sports. Playing something new comes with a learning curve. For some girls, that felt like picking up a new language.

“They were telling me to do these routes. Even lining and the positions, I didn’t know what any of that was,” Junior wide receiver Aimee Turner said.

As the girls’ knowledge for the sport has grown, so has the numbers. The game was introduced to Rochester in 2022 with eight teams initially. Last year, there were 19. Today, there are 33 teams across the area. And the sport is only getting bigger from here.

“At a state level, we are at 185 teams which is awesome,” Section Five Flag Football coordinator Jennifer Lapinski said. “This is the first year of a state championship.”

Why the sudden growth? One reason is accessibility. No helmet. No pads. All schools need are a ball and the flags. Few sports come with so little cost and it helps to balance opportunities for girls. Hockey and football leave the scales tipped constantly in favor of boys.

“They have minimal sports for girls in the spring,” Arcadia flag football head coach Matt Lapinski. said. “They now have an opportunity to do (flag football). I think in areas like ours and across the state you’re going to see it pop up.”

The game is growing the college level too. One local college athletic director said he’d be stunned if it wasn’t offered at a bunch of different colleges within five years.

“You’re going to see big time national championships,” Matt Lipinski said. “These girls get the same limelight like Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes.”

“Instead of playing D-1 soccer, they’ll play D-1 flag football. Then go all the way up to that level for the Olympics,” Arcadia Junior tight end Lizzie Avel said.

That’s right. Flag football is an Olympic sport for the 2028 games in Los Angeles.

The growth of this sport might only be beginning.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.