Kingston High will debut varsity girls flag football team in spring:
https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2023/02...eam-in-spring/
From the article: "Kingston High football fans won’t have to wait until the fall
to see the Tigers in action.
Starting with an April 5 matchup against Saugerties, Kingston will play its first varsity girls flag football game at Crosby Elementary School in Lake Katrine.
The Tigers will have a 10-game schedule. In addition to Saugerties, Kingston will face Newburgh Free Academy, Monroe-Woodbury, Pine Bush and Washingtonville. The Section 9 champion will play either the Section 1 or Section 8 winner in a regional title game June 10 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Kingston is one of 15 teams in Section 9 to start flag football in 2023. The New York Jets donated uniforms and flag football gear to all participating schools. Kingston coach Mike Dittus, assistants Keith VanRoy and John Perry and 10 members of the history-making inaugural Tigers’ squad were invited to MetLife
Stadium to receive their uniforms and tour the facility.
Girls flag football is becoming a very popular sport nationwide. This year, more than 140 high schools across eight sections in New York state will compete in the sport.
On Feb. 1, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) announced it will recognize high school girls flag football as a state championship sport for the spring of 2024. The New York Giants, Buffalo Bills and the Jets supported 24 high schools across six sections in New York in 2022. With 51 participating high schools last year, the sport was declared an
“emerging sport” by state athletic officials.
Robert Zayas, NYSPHSAA executive director, said girls flag football is growing in leaps and bounds.
“With the support of the NFL, the NYSPHSAA has provided thousands of student-athletes with the ability to play girls flag football,” Zayas said. “In less than one year, the number of schools playing girls flag football has nearly tripled in our state. Providing participation opportunities for students continues to
be one of our top priorities.”
Girls flag football games are seven-on-seven competition with all players eligible to catch a pass including the center, Dittus said. There is no blocking with offensive linemen shielding defenders from the quarterback. They aren’t
permitted to use their hands.
Though Dittus couldn’t predict how many players would be in uniform for the first varsity game, he said there was a lot of enthusiasm when the team scrimmaged against one another in last spring’s Maroon and White game.
“We had about 35 girls come out (for the scrimmage) at Dietz Stadium,” Dittus said. “We had an announcer and it was a lot of fun. It left them wanting more.”
Dittus said the idea of forming a girls flag football team started with Kingston Athletic Director Rich Silverstein last year.
“I got an email from him asking if I’d be interested in starting a girls flag football team as an intramural sport with the hopes of it being a varsity sport in a year or two,” Dittus said. He added that coaching the defense and wide receivers for
the modified football program under Kingston varsity football coach Quintin Johnson, along with running a youth flag football league in West Hurley, helped him prepare for the girls flag football job. He also said he had a number of his current players compete in the Mountain Valley Youth Flag Football League.
“We got started last spring and the interest level was overwhelming,” Dittus said. “A lot of girls came out. A lot more than I thought.”
Junior Hannah Tampasis, who will play wide receiver and linebacker, said she sees flag football as an opportunity to help her when she majors in sports management in college.
“I’d love to become a flag football coach as the sport grows,” said Tampasis, who plays on a competitive soccer travel team.
Tampasis said her classmates are really looking forward to watching Kingston’s first girls flag football team in action.
“They think it’s pretty cool that this is becoming a new sport,” she said. “Everyone is ready to come watch the games.”
Quarterback Caroline Connolly, a junior, is a big Giants fan and likes quarterback Daniel Jones and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts. She said her parents are very supportive of her playing flag football.
“They watch games with me every Sunday and they really got into it,” Connolly said.
Connolly, who also plays girls soccer at KHS, said teammates often exchange highlights from NFL games. “We tell each other we should try these in our games,” she said.
Mackenzie Martin, a junior, has been on the school’s alpine ski team and the soccer team. Martin plans to play running back and wide receiver. Based on the competition during last year’s intramurals, Martin thinks Kingston should field a pretty good squad.
“I thought intramurals were really competitive even though it was with our own teammates,” Martin said. “It was really fun and we really got into it.”
Keeley Savona said she’s pretty versatile, so she could play center, linebacker and in the slot. She’ll wear No. 13, the same number as her boyfriend, Kingston star running back and linebacker Isaiah Thomas.
Savona said she grew up watching NFL games with her father, Danny, who is a diehard Cowboys fan. She said the action gets pretty boisterous around their house when the Cowboys and Giants face off as her grandfather Jerry Corrado
and uncle Mike Corrado love rooting for the Giants.
“Every Sunday I’d listen to my dad screaming at the TV, so I came to fall in love with it myself,” Savona said. “When coach Dittus brought up the opportunity to play flag football, I said, ‘Of course.”
As a Jets fan, she said it was special to go to MetLife Stadium with coaches and teammates recently.
“We walked in and saw the big screen with the Tiger head on it saying, ‘Welcome girls flag football players,’” Savona recalled. “It was really awesome. We got to go on the field and it was such a surreal experience. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
And to cap it off, she said she’ll never forget seeing her uniform hanging in the locker room. Savona said she can’t wait for the season to begin.
“We’ve been working very, very hard,” she said. “I’m really excited to see how far we go.”
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