Granite Bay is up 6-0 at half time, the flag football team huddles up to have a pep talk about the next play. But it’s time to get back on the field, the Grizzlies are fighting to stay in the lead. Fourth quarter comes around and Maddie Bell throws a touchdown to Alyssa Poehlman to seal the deal. After they shut it down on defense one last time the buzzer sounds and the girls Granite Bay flag football team wins their first game ever over Vista Del Lago.
The team’s win may have seemed effortless, but the process of creating the program was not. In February, 2023, California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) made girls flag football an official high school sport for the San Joaquin section, seeking excitement across the county. Our section includes, St. Francis, Davis, Del Oro, Rocklin, Whitney, and Folsom.
“I really want to beat Del Oro just because they have such a good team but we also have a great program,” Senior Maddie Bell said.
Overall there are 10 separate sections that divide high school sports across California, with Granite Bay’s falling into the San Joaquin section. CIF governs these 10 sections including both public and private schools and creates rules and regulation regarding sports and academics across the board.
Last May the Athletics Director held an informational meeting to see if students would be interested in the Flag Football program. After last year’s powder puff game, some girls became interested in the program and found it to be something they wanted to be involved in.
“After the powderpuff games me and some friends would go play two touch football at the park and then I would play football with my family a lot, and then flag football started up so then we went straight into that,” Bell said.
Right now the JV and Varsity teams have about 54 girls involved in the program and is a great way to get involved at Granite Bay. With this year being the first time flag football is introduced as an official sport at Granite Bay, the girls are very excited for their “firsts” of the sport. The team got their first official win on Thursday August 24th against Vista Del Lago.
A “first” that the senior girls are most excited for is getting to celebrate the sports first official senior night.
With the season just now starting, it has become popular amongst Granite Bay students.
“We have good camaraderie. We’re trying to build on the culture and set standards. I didn’t know what to expect but I couldn’t be happier with where we are at,” Varsity coach Dallas Sartz said.
With this year’s season already being a success, the future for the program and the Granite Bay flag football community can only get better from here.
