They started their season in borrowed volleyball uniforms with only three weeks of practice. A few months later, they finished their season losing by just two points to the No.1-ranked team in their bracket.
It’s not groundbreaking to see a girl playing football, but this school year they had their own CIF-sanctioned sport: Flag football. Dozens of teams formed in the state for the inaugural season that ended a week ago.
At Los Alamitos High School, the pressure to start a team came from their future quarterback, Rylee Robles, who said she was watching the boys practice and wanted to play football in high school.
Robles is no stranger to football, she’s been playing in Friday Night Lights, a youth flag football league, for a few years.
When she heard CIF officials were considering making it an official high school sport, she said she took action talking with school officials and posted flyers around campus. She was able to drum up enough interest to assemble a team and hire a coach.
The games are quick, with two 20-minute halves with a running clock and a five-minute halftime. Touchdowns are six points, but there is no kicking. The point after a touchdown is either a 1- or 2-point conversion based on the distance the team chooses.
The historic nature of the inaugural season wasn’t lost on Robles. Throughout the season, Robles said she thought, “Oh my gosh that was the first touchdown, that was the first flag pull.” It was small moments, she said, that gave her, “a real big perspective of this being the first time.”
Head Coach Laura Hart said, “The competitiveness of the level play has increased now that it’s an actual CIF sport … and it’s gonna increase as the years go on.”
Hart said she is pleased with the progress the team made throughout the season. And, after the season-ending 2 point loss, she told the team, “hold your head high because you played at a high level the whole time.”
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