For Lakeside Athletics, the winter season can be a little rough. Not only can the cold weather and meager daylight take a toll on spirit at outdoor games, but there’s only half as many teams as spring or fall. In fact, if you’re thinking of joining a girls’ team, the only options you have are basketball and wrestling. So, with the Metro League’s offer of a girls flag football team for the 2024-2025 season, it seemed like a way to fix this problem. “There were very few choices for the girls if they wanted to participate on a Lakeside team [during winter],” says Coach Hartley, Director of Athletics. “We wanted to be able to offer another opportunity.” Following through with this proposal, on September 26, a sign-up form was sent out to gauge girls’ interest in the team.
Since then, 60 people have responded. Not only do these numbers confirm the creation of a team this year, but they have drastically increased optimism about making flag football a recurring winter sport, ideally with big turnouts each year. “It’s so popular in a lot of other schools that my sense is we might, after this year, offer perhaps both JV and Varsity,” Hartley commented.
That being said, despite the support from administration and students, Hartley noted there is one major challenge to navigate. “The places where there’s tension are where we practice,” he elaborates. The problem with the winter season is that the sun sets at 4:30 p.m., and our fields have no light. So, practices will have to be held at Ingraham’s field. “I’m hoping this partnership at Ingraham will continue, and so that’s why we’re just starting out with one team this year.” As of right now, however, things are moving smoothly; Lakeside is already picking coaches and scheduling games.
For many students who will make up the team, flag football offers a refreshing alternative to the more traditional sports options. “I made it my mission my senior year to try out new things,” says Reagan R. ’25, aspiring Lions flag football player. “It’s our [the seniors’] last year to do something, and it’s Lakeside’s first year starting something, so those two things kind of intersected.” To her and many others, in comparison to a team like basketball and wrestling, the nature of flag football makes it a more approachable and fun way of getting involved with sports. And, since everyone on the team will be new members with various sports backgrounds, there is no stress over performance. “I think it’s an atmosphere of learning,” she says. “Not knowing how to throw a football, you share vulnerability because you don’t have the pressure of things like college recruitment.”
However, she does question the differences between girls and boys’ engagement in football at school. Tackle football at Lakeside is coed, so anyone can join the team regardless of gender identity. Despite this, the distribution of players does lean heavily towards boys. “Technically flag football is the ‘girl’ equivalent to regular football,” she says. “Why is our version of football something we play with flags and not pads?” Although there is no existing girls tackle team, the next steps of girls football, whether it be flag or tackle, are something to consider over the coming years.
As of right now, however, the first game is scheduled for December seventh against Nathan Hale. As the team prepares for its inaugural season, a new chapter is being opened in Lakeside’s athletic legacy.
