Area schools partnering with Steelers to bring girls flag football league to life
AMBRIDGE — Thanks to the Pittsburgh Steelers, western Pennsylvania will begin offering flag football to young girls this spring, with a number of school districts in the Beaver Valley — including Ambridge, Beaver, and West Allegheny — committing to fielding teams for the inaugural season.
The Steelers announced the formation of the pilot flag football program for local high school girls in early February in conjunction with the celebration of National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Feb. 2, as well as the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
According to the Steelers, this spring's flag football program aims to encourage high schools to sanction girls flag football.
"We are excited to provide this opportunity for high schools in Western Pennsylvania," said Steelers President Art Rooney II in a press release announcing the formation of the program. "Flag Football is an exciting game, and already very popular in community programs, so it is great to provide high school girls with an opportunity to keep playing and represent their high school."
Dating back to 2016, the NFL and its 32 franchises has put forth a concerted effort to develop football opportunities for high school girls in an effort to increase high school girls flag football participation across the country.
Through these collaborative efforts, more than 200,000 female participants between the ages of 6-17 played flag football in 2021, according to numbers released by the NFL. Additionally, 14 NFL franchises have committed to executing pilot programs in collaboration with their state athletic association at the high school level. Seven states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New York and Nevada have all officially sanctioned girls' flag as a varsity sport.
Along with officially sanctioned girls' flag football at the high school level, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, which is a college athletics association for small colleges and universities in North America, partnered with the NFL to introduce women's flag football as a collegiate sport for their member institutions in 2021.
Now, the Steelers are aiming to make an impact in western Pennsylvania, which is music to the ears of Ambridge's Felicia Mycyk.
With more women getting involved with football across the country from a playing, coaching and scouting standpoint, Mycyk — who has been at the forefront of change when it comes to women in sports in the area and currently serves as an assistant coach for the Ambridge varsity football team — is building a flag football team in Ambridge.
Mycyk previously played tackle football as a starting cornerback and has over a decade of experience coaching local football teams. Last September, Mycyk hosted the first-ever all-girls football camp at Walter Panek Park in Beaver County. Now, she's getting the chance to coach her own all-girls flag football team as a club/activities program at the high school level.
"This is just a terrific opportunity for young girls who want to play football and want to learn more about the game," Mycyk said. "My first thought when I heard the Steelers were putting together a league was, 'man, I wish we had that in high school.' I was a cheerleader in high school, did all the traditional girl-type things you'd do in high school.
"When we were able to play flag football back then, it was kind of tongue-in-cheek, something cute for girls to play flag football for a day," Mycyk added. "So having this opportunity to make it into a season for girls is huge, because there's only so many sports that your school can offer for girls."
Though the league is still in the early stages and area schools are still trying to determine the interest levels from high school girls to field teams, Mycyk said that within 10 minutes of showing up to Ambridge High School, she received enough interest from eligible girls to field a roster.
The next step for girls' flag football in western Pennsylvania starts on Sunday, Feb. 27 as the Steelers will also host a Girls Flag Football Jamboree at 1 p.m. at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. According to the press release from the Steelers, participating schools will receive equipment, uniforms, and funding to assist with both coaching and transportation, with support from the Steelers, NFL, NFL FLAG, and Nike. To register online for the Girls Flag Football Jamboree, visit sports.bluesombrero.com.
For more information on girls' flag football opportunities in western Pennsylvania, visit steelers.formstack.com.
Contact Joshua Carney at jcarney@gannett.com or 724-681-9136. Follow Joshua on Twitter: @ByJoshCarney
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Area schools partnering with Steelers to bring girls flag football league to life
