For Zara Mineo, the most she knew about football was the Super Bowl halftime show. Now, she is a football player herself who watches the game understanding slant routes and “I” formations.

Flag football was not even on her radar. Zara dreams of pursuing softball at the collegiate level. Her mom forced her to try out for the team.

“Some girls just saw this as their second or third sport or another way to win another all-league title,” said Zara.

California is the 8th state to offer girls’ high school flag football. With 435 schools participating this year, Orange Lutheran had the toughest schedule in the country, according to Max Preps. Despite their fierce opponents, they came out as champions in their league and made it to the finals of the Chargers tournament.

This team, despite their lack of experience, prevailed in their first year.

Zara found flag football offered more than another competitive sport. Her teammates became friends. Her coach became a mentor. Her new sport became a passion.

Kristen Sherman, head coach of girls’ flag football at Orange Lutheran High School where Zara plays, is an Orange Lutheran alum. Coach Sherman lettered in basketball, tennis, softball and track when she was in high school.

With a background in sports performance and a love of football stemming partially from her husband who is the boys’ football coach at Orange Lutheran, she got hired as the girls’ flag football coach for this fall.

For Coach Sherman, this was her first season in the sport as well.

In today’s high school sports environment, athletes usually are veterans of the sport before they try out for their high school team. Whether it is club or recreational leagues, most high school athletes already experience the highs and lows of their sport.

This was not the case with girls’ flag football.

“We had very few girls that had ever played football before,” said Coach Sherman. "Early on, a lot of what we were doing was literally teaching them how to hold their hands properly to catch a football.”

Zara did not know much about football at all. She derived her entire knowledge of the game from watching her younger brother’s flag football games.

Her teammate, sophomore Julia Oberhaltzer, had played in only two small games in middle school.

“A lot of us play sports that don’t require catching a ball with our hands,” said Julia. “But as far as the mechanics of running routes, we all know how to do that, so we adapted easily.”

Most of the girls are multisport athletes who play soccer, softball, and track. Only a select few had any experience with football, whether that be playing it themselves or even watching.

The many feats of Orange Lutheran

Growth played a key role on this team as the season continued.

Coach Sherman recognized that the girls continued to get better and grow in skill and confidence. The team at Orange Lutheran went on to go undefeated and win the Trinity League.

The Trinity League is made up of five teams. With this being the first year, there was no CIF tournament. Next year, the girls look forward to competing for a state championship. With this being a first year sport, the logistics of the year were unclear at times.

“There really wasn't very good information on what was happening, who was going to host an end of the year tournament, or what shape that was going to take,” said Coach Sherman.

She said the girls were wanting to get back to the field and compete for something bigger than the league championship.

There were many highs leading to that Trinity League Championship. One of Zara’s biggest games was against Santa Margarita. Even though flag football is non-contact, she recalls this as one of their most physical games. It was their first game that went to overtime.

Zara, as the outside receiver, drew heavy coverage while running the slant route but that didn’t keep her from getting open.

“When I'm coming across the field for our quarterback to throw it to me, she knows that I'm going to get there,” said Zara.

Their quarterback, Makenna Cook, is only a freshman but is one of the U.S. Junior Flag Football National Team members. As someone who has some games under her belt, Makenna is a force on the team that made a big difference in the Santa Margarita game and the season as a whole.

“Having her confidence and having her patience and calmness definitely helped us out in that overtime series,” said Zara.

The game ended in an overtime victory and set the tone for the games to come. The team went on to win 13 of their next 17 games.

Another feat in their season was making it to the championships in the Chargers’ tournament with teams from all around Southern California.

Zara talked about this final game with a big smile on her face. Their team played Esperanza for the third time this season. The first and second game against the Aztecs were big losses, but this championship loss was by a single point.

“We really outplayed them in that championship game. We did great,” said Zara. “If we had our full team there, we would’ve won that game.”

Even though they lost the championship, Zara played one more time this season in the Chargers All-Star game on November 26th. For this game, girls from each of the best teams in Southern California came together to play. It was an Orange County versus Los Angeles matchup.

“The fact that I am playing in an all-star game for a sport I just started this year is a dream come true,” said Zara. “Orange County won so it made it an even better experience.”

The all-star game was unexpected for Zara, as was the team chemistry. For both Zara and Julia, their biggest takeaway from the season is the new friendships and love of a new sport.

Julia says that she did not expect to love the sport as much as she did. She joined the team because she had heard a teacher talk about it in class.

Going into the season with zero expectations, Julia is leaving with an appreciation for football and the desire to play next season.

Logistics of approval

As more and more states across the country adopt girls’ flag football into their high schools, more stories like Julia and Zara’s will appear.

Currently, eight states in America offer girls’ flag football as a high school sport: California, Nevada, Florida, New York, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and Georgia. The two main drivers behind this adoption are the support of the NFL and the approval of flag football in the 2028 Olympic Games.

“Originally in the NFL, they came up with the idea because they asked, ‘How do we attract more female viewers, fans, and people who would follow and be involved with football?’,” said Rob Wigod, former commissioner of athletics for the Southern Section of CIF.

In addition to wanting to increase female viewership, there are extra concerns with the safety of tackle football. Boys are encouraged at younger ages to compete in flag football instead of tackle football. Troy Vincent, executive vice president of football operations at the NFL, has a specific goal: giving girls the same chance to play the sport as boys.

Each NFL team has their own youth flag football programs for boys and girls. The involvement with such a powerful organization like the NFL increases the excitement and involvement of the sport.

“We're seeing people work together for a common good. Young people are being active and available,” said Vincent.

Vincent said Atlanta and the Falcons organization became the model for the rest of the country. Once one state saw that this sport can be successful, the others followed suit using that same model.

The country is captivated by girls’ flag football. The excitement and acceptance of the sport is widespread.

“In particular, the excitement that we are seeing from the girls is fascinating,” said Vincent. “You see the excitement, the enthusiasm that you hear in their voices, in their body language, talking to their parents, and then you go, ‘Wow.’”

Looking ahead

In addition to the NFL, the sanctioning of flag football as an official Olympic sport is expected to attract even more players to girls’ flag football.

“Now with the Olympic path and opportunity, it created an aspirational goal post,” said Vincent. “We’ve got over 100 countries participating in this.”

The investment in this sport, both emotionally and physically, has allowed for the popularity to soar. Unlike Julia who has another season of flag football, Zara’s playing time will come to an end after November 26th. But her desire to be involved remains.

“I would love to come back and even help coach. Now that I’ve played the sport, I really know the game,” said Zara.

That is exactly what Coach Sherman hoped for: Girls seeing the representation of women in the sport and wanting to come back for more.

“One of the girls joked saying they are going to come back and take my job. I was laughing but that is exactly what I want,” said Sherman.

After the playing time has ended for the girls, the fandom remains. The girls now have an appreciation and understanding of the game that stems from them having the opportunity to play themselves.

Turns out, football is for girls, and the girls are here to stay.