There are several sports available for students at Ponte Vedra, Nease and Beachside High schools and the list continues to grow.
However, one sport that is not on the athletic program list at those schools is girls flag football, but there are a group of girls that are hoping to change that soon.
A mix of girls from the three schools recently came together to form a team to represent St. Johns County at a girls flag football tournament hosted by the Jacksonville Jaguars and held at TIAA Bank Field in downtown Jacksonville on Jan. 24.
“I first heard about it (flag football) from my friends, and I’ve started to really like it more and more since I got into it,” said Izzy Murray, who will be a freshman at Ponte Vedra High School in the fall. “It’s like a lot of other sports where you have to train and train to get better,” Murray said. “I think I like the hard work of it that goes in.”
There is a push within the community from certain members who want to see it added to a school’s list of state programs, and they are hoping athletic directors at the local schools can orchestrate the process of making that a reality.
The girls coming together to form a team shows the amount of interest that exists if it were to one day be a sanctioned sport at Ponte Vedra, Nease or Beachside High.
Beachside sophomore Bianca Fawcett believes that it would be a great opportunity if girls flag football was introduced at her school before she graduates in a couple of years.
“I would definitely go out for it if that happened, and there would definitely be a lot more competition amongst the schools,” Fawcett said.
There is a mixture of girls that are still relatively new to the sport as well as those that have been involved with the sport for several years already.
One of the veteran players on the team is Isabella Tuccilla, who will be a freshman at Nease High and has been playing flag football for four years and has developed a passion for the game.
“I used to always play with my brother and his friends, and then I went to one of his games one time and I decided to join,” said Tuccilla said.
According to Tuccilla, she plays both wide receiver and safety, but she has found a knack for pulling flags so the defensive side of the ball is where she gets to really showcase her skills.
The fact that there are girls from three different schools represented is probably one of the biggest hurdles to overcome, but the relationships have been fun to develop and have come along fairly easily.
“I played powderpuff in school, but this is just so much more intense and fun,” said Nease High sophomore Grace Chaves.
Many of the girls have played or currently play other sports, and there are certain areas that are easily transferable to flag football.
Chaves has only attended a couple of practices so far, but she has already started to see the similarities and advantages that can come from playing other sports.
“I really enjoy running routes and trying to catch the ball, because I play soccer, so running is just something I’m used to,” Chaves said. “Soccer has also really helped with footwork and when it comes to getting around the defenders. The spin move is really similar to the spin move in soccer.”
