A womens flag football team is in the works at FVHS, and after our annual powderpuff game, many girls have taken interest in playing the sport. 

Since football is primarily a mens sport, it’s very progressive and important that a girls team is coming to us. 

“It’s a good opportunity for the girls at our school because powderpuff was really fun, and it lets them be able to play more than one time a year,” said sophomore Braelynn Wagner.

The first womens flag football team was in Brooklyn, New York in 1979. They were called the Brooklyn Untouchables and were founded by Diane Beruldsen. 

The Brooklyn Women’s Flag Football League was introduced in 1990, which included six different teams. That developed into the New York Women’s Flag Football League in 1990, which included eight teams.

As of Oct. 2023, eight states have varsity level girls flag football teams, North Carolina is now one of those states as of Nov 22. 

Wake County has been granted $47,500 from the Carolina Panthers to help fund 19 school’s girls flag football teams. 

The Panthers have given them 25 sets of custom Nike uniforms, practice equipment, money for officials, and more game-related expenses.

When the season begins, they will have three Saturday competitions in the form of a tournament, instead of one singular game. 

“I think that it’s very important that the girls team is coming because now there’s more opportunities for girls to play sports that mostly boys play,” said sophomore Kenadi Johnson. 

Eric Pulling is the coach for the team, and is excited about the future of girls sports.