Why girls across the Stanislaus District signed up to play flag football in its first season

Mikena Zuniga was going to play football this fall no matter what.

The original plan was to put on shoulder pads, thigh pads and a helmet and play tackle for her second season as a linebacker and kicker for Modesto’s Central Catholic High School.

When the CIF unanimously voted in February to make girls flag football an official high school sport, it gave Zuniga and girls across the state the chance to make their own memories on the field.

“Playing (tackle) football is interesting because I’m surrounded by guys, but being able to come out here and do the same thing with a bunch of my friends that are girls is more chill,” she said.

While flag takes priority, Zuniga still gets her tackle football fix. She practices with her team from 3:15 to 5 p.m. and then puts on the pads to join the boys.

“She doesn’t miss a thing,” said Central Catholic athletic director and assistant football coach Billy Hylla.

For the tackle football team last season, she played receiver on the scout team, saw game action on defense and drilled eight extra points. For the flag football team, Zuniga plays center and receiver. She caught a touchdown pass in the Raiders’ season opener against Central Valley on Thursday.

“A lot of times, if I’m not doing too much, I hop in on scout team and run some plays with the guys and try to play a part,” she said of her role in tackle football. “Coming to (flag football), it really helped out because I knew some stuff and I could help out my teammates.”

In Modesto’s first CIF-sanctioned girls flag football game, Central Catholic beat Central Valley 34-14.

The teams played in front of family, friends and a group of Central Catholic tackle football players. Vendors sold food and drinks behind the west end zone and a DJ entertained players and spectators.

The Raiders’ first touchdown was just as impressive as the atmosphere. Sophomore Emry Couch intercepted a pass, dodged the outstretched arms of would-be flag pullers and broke away from the pack at midfield for a pick-six.

“I think it’s big,” said Central Catholic flag football coach Brett Butler. “There’s a lot of great women athletes in the Central Valley that never had the opportunity to play football. It can be truly life altering for some girls. … I think it’s great and that it will open up a lot of doors for a lot of women. It’s something that we’ve needed for a long time.”

According to the section office, 70 schools have girls flag football teams in the sport’s inaugural season. The turnout was better than anyone thought it would be — including those in the section office.

“I didn’t think we’d see 70 right away because it’s a lot of work to put a new sport together,” Sac-Joaquin Section assistant commissioner Will DeBoard said at the section’s media day Aug. 17. “Our schools were really interested, the kids were really interested and I think that’s contagious. … When you have 50 or 60 girls at a school site that want to play a new sport, you find a way to make it happen. And I think our schools are finding a way even though it’s been a quick turnaround.”

The section’s bylaws state that in order to have a postseason in most sports, 30% of the schools must field a team. DeBoard said the section originally planned to have a postseason in “a year or two.” But there was enough immediate interest to give schools the chance to win a blue banner this year. A minimum of 30 teams will qualify for the postseason. They will be split into two divisions according to school size.

“If they’re going to do this, then let’s have playoffs,” DeBoard said.

He said the Elk Grove Unified School District and Modesto City Schools will have programs next year.

Girls from multiple sports come together

Escalon’s Sammy Lang is a basketball player with a football background.

The senior helped lead the Cougars to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV semifinals last season, earned All-TVL honors and was named to The Bee’s All District girls basketball team. This fall, the point guard has embraced a new challenge as quarterback of the flag football team.

“Quarterback and point guard are very similar because you have to remember all the plays and they rely on you,” Lang said after a preseason practice. “I have a pretty good memory, but football plays are so different.”

Lang grew up playing football at family functions with older relatives — most notably former Escalon quarterback and reigning section and state champion coach Andrew Beam, her older cousin.

“My whole family is kind of big on football and I already knew some things,” she said. “When I heard there was a flag football team for our senior year, I thought that’d be so fun just to play. … It’s my senior year. Why not? And some of my friends are doing it.”

Lang does not play fall sports, so her schedule was open, but to field teams, some girls left other fall sports to play football. A lot of teams have girls who play winter and spring sports like soccer and softball.

“I was a little bummed because volleyball and flag football are at the same time,” said Patterson senior Athena Cantu, who played three years of volleyball, “but (football) has been fun.”

If she didn’t play football this fall, Hannah Wampler might have been back on the Escalon cross country team. Instead, she feels she is running with a purpose in a sport that compares to one she plays in the winter, she said.

“It gives me the same satisfaction as soccer,” she said. “It gets me excited and motivates me to play more. … It’s a sense of pride, too, playing on the first team.”

Making the most of an opportunity

Not even 10 minutes after Patterson’s boys finished preseason football practice, the girls were on the field to stretch.

The Tigers had a full practice on the turf, running through routes, doing footwork drills and ending with a short scrimmage.

“We only had powderpuff and all the girls were really excited to just do that, and it was just a one-day thing,” said Patterson senior Daisy De La Torre, “and then we get to do this and a lot of girls are excited. A lot of old seniors were sad that they didn’t get to experience it while they were here because a lot of them were into it, too. They said they wished they had the opportunity while they were here. … I told them I’ll experience it for them.”

For freshmen, sophomores and juniors, this year is the start of what they hope will be a prosperous high school flag football career. For seniors, it provided a shot to be pioneers in their final year of high school.

“It’s my senior year, so I thought: Why not try something new?” Wampler said. “I’ll never get this experience again and I can say that I was part of the first flag football team. You get to leave high school saying, ‘I helped start something new.’”

Who’s playing?

Last week, after a summer of preparation, teams took the field. A highlight in the southern part of the section is the entire Central California Conference fielded teams. They added Livingston to form an eight-team league. The area has already seen some great performances. Escalon went 3-0 in its first week and Patterson won its home opener in a triple-overtime thriller.

Here is who plays and in what league:

North

Capital Athletic League: Capital Christian, Christian Brothers, Del Campo, El Camino, Grant, Rio Americano, Vista Del Lago

Capital Valley Conference: Antelope, Bella Vista, Inderkum, Oakmont, Roseville, West Park, Woodcreek, Yuba City

Golden Empire League: Casa Roble, Dion, Mesa Verde, Mira Loma, Pioneer, Rio Linda, Sacramento Adventist, Woodland

Pioneer Valley League: Center, Colfax, Cordova, Foresthill, Placer

Sierra Foothill League: Davis, Del Oro, Folsom, Granite Bay, Oak Ridge, Rocklin, St.Francis, Whitney

South

Central California Conference: Atwater, Buhach Colony, Central Valley, El Capitan, Golden Valley, Livingston, Merced, Patterson

San-Joaquin Athletic Association: Bear Creek, Chavez, Edison, Franklin-Stockton, Linden, McNair, Stagg Weston Ranch

Tri-City Athletic League: ABLE Charter, Central Catholic, Lincoln-Stockton, Lodi, Millennium, Sierra, St. Mary’s, Tokay, Tracy, West

Western Athletic Conference: Ceres, Escalon, Lathrop, Los Banos, Mariposa, Mountain House, Orestimba, Pacheco