Hundreds of local female student-athletes participated in free flag football clinics organized by the NFL's Seattle Seahawks across O‘ahu over the weekend.
The first was held on Saturday morning at Castle High School, while the second was at Pearl City on Sunday. The events were a precursor to the Hawai‘i High School Athletics Association's inaugural girls flag football season, set to begin this week and culminating with the state tournament at Mililani High School on April 26.
Last fall, the HHSAA sanctioned girls flag football as an official sport, becoming just the 12th state to do so. The decision came at a time shortly after flag football was announced as a sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles for both men's and women's competition.
Saturday's event at Castle was in high demand among players and even featured multiple players from neighbor islands, who made the trip in order to participate.
"The fact that the Seattle Seahawks have come today to help support our students and our female athletes from across the state is so, so inspiring," DOE superintendent Keith Hayashi told Aloha State Daily at Saturday's event. "It's about people coming together to support our students and girls. Flag football brings not only the excitement and the energy of the sport, but also provides opportunity for our female athletes, for college scholarships to further their education. It's an opportunity for them to embrace what's going to be happening at the next Olympic Games as flag football is girls as introduced.
"As you drive around O‘ahu, you see the signs encouraging our female athletes to join different clubs, so this comes at a great time. It only it happens because many people came together."
This spring, 46 public schools across four islands will field a team, as will an additional 12 private schools.
"It's going to be an exciting season. I'm looking forward to it," Hayashi said. "It's a time to bring communities together to cheer on our female athletes."
The Seahawks came to O‘ahu with a desire to teach the game even though girls flag football has yet to become a sanctioned high school sport in Washington.
"We've been talking to Hawai‘i for a while, and we've been trying to get girls flag football sanctioned in the state of Washington. But Hawai‘i beat us," said Mario Bailey, vice president of community engagement and legends for the Seahawks. "We've been helping them along, trying to help out, and trying to tell them what they should be doing and how to go about it. And so we came out here to just kind of give an introductory girls flag football camp for a few days, get some high school girls out there, kind of teach them the game a little bit. ... For us to be able to help Hawaii get started, get it off the ground and get going, and just kind of teaching the game, that's why we're here for the weekend."
Various Seahawks staffers and volunteers were helping out at multiple drills set up on Castle's football field in Kaneohe. Also present was Blitz, the official mascot of the Seattle Seahawks.
"We just love Hawai‘i and their effort and trying to get sanctioned and wanting to do more, and wanting the girls to get this opportunity, that's what it's all about — we're trying to give the girls another opportunity to be good at something and enjoy something," Bailey said. "It's just getting the girls out, getting them from behind the computers and the phone and getting them out here."
Players of various experience levels were able to partake in each drill with their official respective seasons around the corner.
"We're in preseason training right now," said Kalani freshman receiver Nellie Stowers. "We've been practicing mostly every day, from like just three to four easy practices. We've been running some drills, like footwork drills. We've been throwing the ball around, just running routes and getting used to the feeling of being on offense, defense, trying out all these new positions to see where we want to play, just to get a feel for it."
Added her teammate, sophomore Lilyanne Florendo: "Our coaching staff actually really promoted today's event because it was a good opportunity to meet other girls that play flag football and to just get exposure for this new sport, because this is my first year playing it, and this is our coaches' first year coaching it."
While participants in Saturday's event were preparing for the first season of girls high school flag football in Hawai‘i, organizers hoped it was the just the start of something bigger.
"Three years from now, if one of these young ladies is in the Olympics, I hope they remember this moment," Bailey said.
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
