MPS student-athletes find sisterhood during inaugural girls flag football season

Despite having played multiple sports, Milwaukee High School of the Arts freshman Alonna Davis feels most at home on the flag football field.

“It’s easier to be myself in flag football,” Davis said. “In flag football, I do a lot of crazy things, and any other people on any other team would laugh at you. But here, we just laugh and do the same things with each other.”

Davis is one of dozens of Milwaukee Public Schools students who played in the inaugural season of Milwaukee Recreation’s high school girls flag football league, a partnership with former Green Bay Packers player Gilbert Brown. 

Throughout May and June, eight teams from seven MPS high schools practiced twice a week after classes and squared off in games at Wick Playfield across four Friday afternoons. Girls of any skill level were welcome to join their school’s team, and no tryouts were required. Many girls had never even played an organized sport before, said MHSA flag football coach and school support teacher Krista Claypool.

As one of Milwaukee Recreation’s alternative club sports offerings for middle- and high-school students, the flag football league does not subject players to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s rules for traditional high school athletics, which require that student-athletes undergo a physical exam and maintain a certain grade point average to compete. Additionally, flag football participation was completely free for students. Several participating schools received a $5,000 grant from the Packers, which was used to purchase equipment and supplies for the season.

“With this, everybody gets a chance to play,” said MHSA flag football coach and math teacher Phaedra Fearen. “There are students on our team with IEPs and things like that, so grades aren’t necessarily a factor. Just making sure that they’re here being a good person and a good leader in the school is really all we ask.”

Claypool added that flag football has been a positive influence on many of the girls, incentivizing them to attend school more often and exhibit good character in the classroom. She said it’s been fulfilling to witness teammates encouraging each other to display leadership and self-control on and off the field. 

“It makes my school day wonderful. I love to go to school now just to come to practice,” Davis said. “On Fridays, [I feel] so excited that I can’t go to sleep!”

Of course, like any sport, flag football involves plenty of hard work and collaboration. The team learns a new play at almost every practice and studies different tactics for countering opponents’ diverse strengths, sophomore Melody Christopher said. 

“You get a chance to … guard somebody who’s fast or guard somebody who’s stronger or learn how to throw the ball quicker,” she continued. “You get to learn how to interact with other people outside of just doing your own thing.”

But, game day is by far Christopher’s favorite part of the sport. She adores wearing her uniform to school on Fridays and applying face paint on the bus with her teammates en route to Wick. 

“It brings joy to me when you’re walking down the hallway and you see like three other people wearing the same uniform as you …,” said Christopher, who had never played on a flag football team until this spring. “It’s making me realize that maybe I should step out and branch into other new things, too.”

For many student-athletes, flag football has been an opportunity to build and strengthen friendships, confidence, and leadership skills. 

“You really don’t know what you’re going to see or who you’re going to meet and what they could actually do,” sophomore and team captain Kaia Woods-Hunter said. “Some of [the players] even looked down on themselves. They’re like ‘I can’t do this,” and then they did it. A lot of them are way more confident than they were in the beginning.”

Woods-Hunter said it’s important to create an environment where her teammates feel they can make their loved ones proud and challenge themselves to “do better and be better.”

As freshman Leilani Grady puts it, the team has fostered a “sisterhood” over the course of the season.

“I learned that you need communication with the whole team, and you don’t have to be rough just to play football …,” she said. “If you’re really interested in it, you should join. It’s really fun!”

The Milwaukee School of Languages team, which won the championship in Milwaukee Recreation’s inaugural league, also took the title in the Packers’ NFL Flag Regional Tournament earlier this summer. MSL senior quarterback Savanna Davis was named the tournament MVP. The Hawks will represent the Packers as one of the 32 girls flag football teams competing at the national tournament in Indianapolis later this month.

Looking to join or start a flag football team at your school next spring? Visit mkerec.net/girlsflag.