Reporting by Elena Metinidis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
As Wisconsin begins to embrace the sport, the Green Bay Packers are helping establish high school teams through the Girls Flag Grant Program, which started in 2023. Up to 20 schools can receive a $5,000 grant on a first-come, first-serve basis for their trailblazer girls flag football teams each year.
Girls participating in startup teams are “the pioneers in our state right now,” said Ryan Fencl, Packers football outreach manager. “They can look back and say, ‘We were the ones that started to get this sport off the ground in the state of Wisconsin.”
The NFL has embraced the momentum of girls flag football, providing opportunities to fuel the interest of thousands of girls nationwide. The Packers identified 66 high schools across Wisconsin participating or interested in girls flag football. Fencl estimated 800 girls are currently enrolled in Girls Flag Grant teams across the state.
In the map below, the red dots indicate schools playing or planning to play girls flag football, while the blue dots indicate schools interested in forming teams.
Grant helps teams get off the ground
The grant fulfills the rigorous financial obligations tied to establishing a high school sports team. Notably, the equipment and uniforms needed to start playing.
After a team’s season ends, the Packers assess game scores, practice schedules and team rosters before awarding the grant as a $5,000 reimbursement check. Fencl says this ensures programs are substantial enough to be an official school team and financial resources were appropriately allocated during the season.
Each school also receives a USA Football flag equipment starter kit and 20 Syzmik X7C Protective Headbands.
The grant acts as a seed for schools to get programs off the ground, Fencl said, and is part of a larger goal to make girls flag football a sanctioned high school sport in Wisconsin.
“It’s not a matter of if it can become a sanctioned sport, it’s a matter of when it can become a sanctioned sport,” Fencl said.
At one MPS school, girls lead the way
“Our young ladies saw a need, they became advocates for themselves and then they really helped build the program,” said Dakota Berg, athletic director at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. “They helped create the opportunities for future students.”
While Berg backed the girls and helped with administrative tasks, he owes the program’s startup to a group of students. Rather than simply asking Berg for a team, they took ownership.
A few girls went to his office one morning with the idea of starting a team, and he told them he needed to know who would be interested. At the end of that day, the girls returned with 40 names and a coach.
That’s when Berg discovered the Girls Flag Grant Program and contacted Fencl about starting a team, which requires at least seven players. Berg said the grant was instrumental in kick-starting the program because the athletics budget didn’t have enough to allocate to the new team.
Berg then worked with Milwaukee Recreation to create a Milwaukee Public Schools girls flag football league because he heard other MPS schools had also received grants.
There are seven leagues across the Milwaukee, Racine and Madison areas, with around six teams per league, according to Milwaukee Rec marketing supervisor Claire McHugh. Seven MPS teams, totaling 117 girls, were enrolled through Milwaukee Rec in the spring. They compete at Wick Playfield, 4929 W. Vliet St. Milwaukee Rec may open the league to non-MPS schools in the future.
Schools decide what season they want to play in, which can be affected by space availability and conflicts with other sports.
Not just for the love of the game, but the team
Krista Claypool, one of Milwaukee High School of the Arts’ girls flag football coaches, said her biggest goal was to make the team feel like family.
Claypool learned the sport alongside the girls, which made her nervous at first, and demanded patience from her and the team. She said there was certainly frustration and “growing pains,” but she loved seeing how learning something new made the girls more confident and strong.
“Girls can do anything they want to,” Claypool said.
Claypool also noticed the girls wanting to do well on the field translated to doing well in the classroom, because they realized they had to succeed in school to play on game day. Since girls flag football is not a Wisconsin sanctioned sport, there was no GPA requirement to join the team, unlike other sports. Claypool said this opened the door for girls with lower GPAs and attendance rates to play.
One girl even told Claypool their first game made her want to go to school that day.
The girls channeled their excitement by wearing their new uniforms and face paint to school in anticipation of taking the field for the first time that evening.
Leilani Grady, an incoming sophomore, said she was scared before the first game. She always wanted to play football, but was nervous about how well she’d play.
“‘This is your time,’” she told herself. “‘You’re finally on the team, don’t be nervous now.’”
Even though their first game was a tie, it was still a win in Grady’s book because of the team’s effort to get there.
Alonna Davis, also an incoming sophomore, said she couldn’t catch or throw a ball at the first practice. Now, she wants to play every day.
Davis wasn’t interested in football before joining the team, but now knows she wants to play for the rest of high school, and hopes the team grows. She said the team’s sisterhood alone would make her drop volleyball, her other sport, for flag football if she had to.
Berg said he’s happy girls now have football opportunities boys have had for several years.
“Giving young women in our school access to the same benefits of teamwork, competition and school pride … it shows them that they belong in athletics, as well,” Berg said.
The team played six Friday night games during the season. While they won only one game, Claypool considers the season a success because of all the learning and growth that happened.
Applications for next year’s grant
Wisconsin high schools looking to establish girls flag football teams apply for the grant on a rolling basis from April 1 to March 31 the following year. Fencl said all 20 available spots have been filled in years prior.
The application asks for basic school and athletic director information, intentions for an intramural or club team, an estimated team size and a description of how the school will implement girls flag, such as a potential schedule, program initiatives, etc.
This school year, recipients will be awarded $3,000 for general expenses, $2,000 for equipment through GameBreaker, 20 free customizable GameBreaker AURA flag football headbands and a USA Football Flag Equipment Starter Kit.
Fencl said the Packers will keep an eye on existing programs to see whether they continue to thrive and grow after their initial grant. While it hasn’t happened yet, Fencl said if all 20 grant spots don’t fill one year, the remaining funds would be distributed equally among current and previous recipient schools.
Last year’s recipient schools were:
• Elkhorn High School in Elkhorn• Beloit Memorial in Beloit• Burlington High School in Burlington• Cedarburg High School in Cedarburg• Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay• Freedom High School in Freedom• Green Bay East in Green Bay• Kimberly High School in Kimberly• Little Chute High School in Little Chute• Madison East in Madison• Madison La Follette in Madison• Madison West in Madison• Milwaukee School of Arts in Milwaukee• Neenah High School in Neenah• Racine Case in Racine• Racine Park in Racine• Riverside University High School in Milwaukee• Southern Door High School in Brussels• Vel Phillips Memorial in Madison• Verona Area High School in Verona
Contact Elena Metinidis at emetinidis@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WI high schoolers start girls flag football teams with help of Packers grant
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