Flag football eyes OFSAA status

History was made Friday afternoon at Youngs Sportsplex with 12 teams competing in the first-ever Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Regional Festival of girls flag football.

“It is great to see teams from outside the Niagara region and public school and Catholic schools all playing together,” Niagara Catholic District School Board flag football convenor Erin Clark said. “We had some beautiful weather yesterday but it didn’t hold until today. It is wonderful to see so many girls out here. When you have this wind and the cold, it is anybody’s game.”

The regional festival is the first step on the road to girls flag football becoming an OFSAA sport.

“In our region, we applied for OFSAA Regional Festival status and it means they are recognizing that we have a number of teams in this area that are playing at the high school level,” Clark said. “We are hoping that other school boards across Ontario which we already know are playing get involved. There are seven other boards that are playing in their high schools and if they would notify OFSAA and apply for a regional program like we had today, we hope that OFSAA will recognize that we are well on our way on our way for it being an OFSAA sport.”

She believes it will be when and not if flag football gains OFSAA status.

“It is definitely very close and I am hoping within the next two years it will be an OFSAA sport. It is an Olympic sport in 2028 and there is no reason that it shouldn’t be an OFSAA sport for girls and boys.”

Of the 12 teams participating, eight teams were from the inaugural Niagara Catholic league, two came from Thorold, one was from E.L. Crossley and the last squad was Orchard Park, the eventual winners of the tournament.

It was an awesome day for Saint Michael Team Two squad as the Mustangs knocked off previously unbeaten Orchard Park in pool play and previously unbeaten Holy Cross in the semifinals before falling 26-22 to Orchard Park in the championship game.

Saint Michael had almost 60 girls try out for flag football and the Niagara Falls high school ended up fielding two teams in the Niagara Catholic loop.

“There was a lot of interest and the two teams we put together built off great kids wanting to play football. A lot of them haven’t played but they picked it up in the last few weeks and we have gotten better every week,” Saint Michael head coach Keith Bomberry said. “To get this far in this tournament means a lot to this school.”

Nothing meant more for the Mustangs than defeating the Niagara Catholic champions from Holy Cross and handing the Raiders their first loss of the season.

“The girls wanted it so bad and Jaela Carter had such an intense game with several huge defensive plays and a big touchdown at the start,” he said. “She really set the tone for us.”

Unfortunately, after scoring a touchdown in the final, Carter injured her knee after a long run.

“I was running down and I got past two girls and my knee popped.”

She loved the chance to play flag football at the high school level.

“It was great. All the girls really connected. We enjoyed our time on the field and it was a different feeling playing a game that usually only the boys get to play,” the Grade 12 student said. “I enjoy football.”

Carter felt the sport was popular at Saint Michael for a number of reasons.

“We have a lot of athletes and all the grades have intertwining friends. Everyone just likes to get together and we were somehow good.”

She sees a bright future for the sport at the high school level.

“It’s looking really good, especially at our school. I see all the young girls starting to improve and stand out, especially for our second team. I am hoping it becomes an OFSAA sport.”

Also catching TD passes for Saint Michael from Isabel Carvalho in the championship game were Brianna Demarchi and Madeline Leitch.

Thorold brought both a junior and senior team to the tournament Friday. When the school found out three weeks ago from Clark that there would be a regional tournament, practices started.

“We had enough girls to make two teams. A couple of girls backed out and we had 11 on one team and 12 on the other,” Thorold head coach Aaron MacCormack said. “I think it’s because the game is taking off and we have a couple Nitro (travel flag football) girls at our school. They got it going and those girls also play on the basketball team. It was word of mouth.”

The senior team went winless at the tournament while the junior team recorded a win over the senior team.

“We are hoping the DSBN (District School Board of Niagara) follows suit and creates a league,” MacCormack said. “Hopefully it will happen next year.”

Thorold player Hannah Russell joined the team at the urging of one of the coaches.

She had a blast playing the sport.

“I’m hoping we get a league because it is a lot of fun playing in these tournaments.”