Glacier High girls flag football wins state championship
KALISPELL, MONT. — With the help from the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, a handful of schools in the Treasure State were sponsored to form a girl's flag football league.
The pilot program sponsored by the Falcons consisted of Butte, Flathead and Glacier High School.
Glacier High Head Coach Mark Kessler says flag football highlights all the action, fun and fast paced nature of regular football which makes coaching and watching the games fun for everyone.
“I think the future is limitless, it's an opportunity to get more girls connected, doing more stuff, and we've got a lot of struggles here in the state of Montana with young people. So if you're getting another 30 to 40 girls connected to the school, how could you not do that,” said Kessler.
While it’s uncertain how the flag football program will grow throughout the state in the coming years, Glacier High and their team hope to show their local community what they're made of.
“It's definitely not just a guy sport, obviously, we came out here we crushed it, it feels great to be able to like prove that we're good at doing something and that we can like win state championships,” said Kai Johnson, Glacier QB and Junior.
While building on their wins and their new state title, players hope to shine a light on under-represented sports and encourage the next generation of young athletes to be whatever they want to be.
“I believe if more girls are given the opportunity that a lot of them will take it and just show up and show out like we have done this season and just really enjoy the sport and do it more. Inspiring the littles would be a great feeling and just showing them that boys aren't the only ones that can do football, that girls can do the same thing as them, could be the best,” said Noah Fincher Glacier Receiver and Junior.
Kessler said the Falcons have been an amazing sponsor and support system allowing the team to help the sport shine.
“I definitely want to be a part of something new, that hasn't been done before, like something new that, you know, can pave the way for many, many other schools in Montana,” said Kenadie Goudette, Glacier Safety and Junior.
