This new Spanish Fort High School athletic program is a game-changer for girls

SPANISH FORT, Ala. ( WKRG ) — This season, the new flag football team at Spanish Fort High School is showing that girls can play football too.

Flag football is the new up-and-coming sport for girls across the country. Six teams in Baldwin County will compete this season.

For Spanish Fort High School, this is the first flag football team the school has ever had.

“I don’t think they’re expecting much from us, but we’re going to come out there,” Anna Winn, a senior on the team, said. “We’re going to hit them hard, like we’re going to do so good.”

Spanish Fort flag football coach Matthew McDonald said he is stepping out of his comfort zone after being a varsity baseball coach for over 20 years, entirely unfamiliar with the rules of flag football.

“It’s like backyard football. It’s seven on seven. Everybody’s eligible,” McDonald said. “The center can snap it and go out for a pass. You can draw plays up in the dirt. You can make it what you want.”

McDonald said the sport isn’t only new to him, but also all of the players on the team.

“None of them have played that I know of, but this is what I do know. They come out here every day, and they work as hard,” McDonald said. “They want to win as bad as any boy I’ve ever coached and they work as hard as the boys and they play hard and they’ll give you everything they got.”

“He coaches us just how he coaches the boys and he he knows what he’s doing,” flag football player Cammie Wick said.

“I think Coach Mac’s doing a good job of keeping everybody equal and holding everybody to the same standard,” flag football player Callie Wick said.

McDonald said the girls have even taken the liberty of making the sport their own by renaming some of the plays and positions on the field. Everyone is excited for the season to begin.

“I don’t know if I’ve had this much fun coaching in several years,” McDonald said.

“Our energy is so good,” Winn said. “We’re like a close-knit team. Like we work really well together; like this is going to be a good season.”

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