Until last year, Kiyah Enoch’s big sporting dreams were always in the field of athletics.

Enoch’s talent as a hurdler is unmistakable – the 11th-grader at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora finished in the top eight in both events at the Class 5A state championships this spring – but she may be taking an unexpected detour.

Track and field may no longer be her ticket to college, as she is one of a growing number of athletes in Aurora and across the country who are falling in love with flag football, whose first season as an officially recognized sport by the Colorado High School Activities Association is about to begin.

“I always said football was pointless,” Enoch said, smiling after a practice at Smoky Hill on Aug. 12. “My dad played football in college, but I mostly ignored it because I had known it for so long. But then I watched someone play flag football and I remember being inspired and thinking I’d just give it a try.”

“Since there are now scholarships for this, I’m trying to get one for that too.”

New dreams continue to open up for young athletes like Enoch, living in an era of unprecedented interest in women’s sports (boosted by the rise of the WNBA and spectacular performances by women’s teams and individuals at the Paris Olympics).

This has created new opportunities in sports like flag football, which offers female athletes the chance to compete in a sport many of them watched as children, and to do so without the violent contact that makes tackle football so risky.

It is a sport that appeals to serious athletes, but there are no prerequisites.

“This is a sport for everyone,” said Smoky Hill coach Augustine Agyei. “We’ve had athletes from basketball, field hockey, soccer, really any field sport. … You can put almost anyone on the field, especially with the way it’s set up right now.”

In addition, current participants have a chance to become part of history. When the season begins on August 17, those competing for the 64 teams across Colorado – including 11 in the Aurora area – will be trailblazers in the state.

“Everyone was really excited (when the sport was approved),” said Catherine Eure, a senior at Jesuit School Regis. “I think it’s really important and special for us to grow.”

This could be just the beginning for some Colorado teams in a sport that now has scholarships (22 schools at the NAIA level offer women’s flag football) and is slated for inclusion in the 2028 Olympics.

The great response

The historic vote took place on April 23, when the Colorado High School Activities Association’s legislative council approved a proposal to authorize flag football for girls by an overwhelming 57-9 vote.

Colorado has now entered the double-digit number of states that offer flag football for girls as an approved prep sport. Previously, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada and New York had done so. The National Federation of High School State Associations (NFHS) notes that the sport is in various pilot phases in 17 other states.

Under the leadership of Bobby Mestas, director of youth and high school football development, the Denver Broncos have been a big promoter of the sport’s rise locally. A day after the sanctions vote, the Broncos held a press conference at Empower Field to celebrate in the end zone, so to speak.

“It is a historic day and a historic moment for our state,” CHSAA Commissioner Mike Krueger said at the press conference. “I am proud to live and serve in a state that leads the nation in female high school athlete participation. By offering this as a sanctioned sport, we are not only providing young women with expanded opportunities for their personal growth and success, but we are also fostering a culture of inclusivity and empowerment that will reverberate far beyond the field for generations to come.”

Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel

Broncos owner Carrie Penner, team president Damani Leach, Mestas and Ally Engelken (vice president of community impact and executive director of the Denver Broncos Foundation) all spoke about the significant importance of creating another option for female athletes.

It was a long process with many hurdles to overcome, but it paved the way for a bright future.

“It’s important for anyone who loves football but has never found a place for themselves,” Penner said. “It’s important for any student who has seen others discover their passion and for other students who are looking for their community. That’s important.”

Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel

Obviously it is relevant across the country.

A recent USA Football study cited by the Associated Press says that participation rates among girls ages 6 to 12 in flag football increased 178% between 2014 and 2022. Figures from the NFHS show that around 500,000 girls ages 6 to 17 play the sport nationwide, more than double the number in 2019.

Due to the great attraction, this value is likely to rise even further.

“It may grow faster in some areas than others, but once it gets going, it will grow quickly,” said Wes Smock, Grandview’s athletic director, after attending the press conference at Empower Field.

“We want to offer children more opportunities to get involved in school. It’s an opportunity. That’s the key.”

Opportunities have expanded significantly recently, as the CHSAA recently approved girls wrestling, boys volleyball and unified bowling, all of which have been well received.

Building from scratch

Larry Bull remembers the day at All-City Stadium in 2022 like it was yesterday.

The longtime athletic director of Cherry Creek Schools is among those who deeply remember the first jamboree-style flag football tournament for girls, held on the campus of Denver South High School.

Only three school districts tested the sport initially – Cherry Creek Schools, Denver Public Schools and Jefferson County Schools – and players and coaches embraced it with infectious enthusiasm. Although the game and strategy started at a very basic level, the passion was palpable.

“I don’t think there was anything that made us question why we were doing this. … Once we started, the enthusiasm of the participants was incredible,” recalls Bull.

“When the teams lined up for a photo on the field at All-City Stadium – it was also the 50th anniversary of Title IX – I knew we had something special.”

Flag football helped fill a gap in participation as the sport tried to recover from the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Because it involved very little contact in a confined space and required little equipment, it could be organized quickly.

Mestas and the Broncos were happy to take on much of the heavy lifting in the process, from organizing the tournaments to securing officials and providing the right equipment, but they needed the buy-in of the participants to make it happen

“Thank you to the school districts who took the risk,” Mestas said. “Without the courage to do so, we would not have had a place to start. A good first year was crucial, and once we did that, we were able to double our size and felt ready to grow.”

From there, popularity grew, and the Broncos estimated that more than 1,500 girls would play the sport in a pilot season in 2023, even though several schools did not yet field teams.

Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel

Last season ended with a 16-team playoff that ended with Arvada West defeating Cherry Creek in a game played at Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse at the Broncos’ Center Health Training Center.

With a whopping 64 teams competing in 2024 – split evenly between Classes 4A and 5A, with 20 teams qualifying for the postseason in both classifications – those numbers will increase significantly.

Bull also pointed out that with the recognition of the sport comes the desire to be the best.

“As with any new sport, the competitive nature is being strengthened. That will also be something we will have to pay attention to this season,” he said.

Basics of the game

With the sanction comes the need to make adjustments to comply with the NFHS rules.

Girls flag football in Colorado will look different than it did during the pilot phase, when multiple games could be played horizontally on a standard-size football field. That won’t be possible with the field’s new dimensions, which will be 40 yards wide and 80 yards long, with 10-yard end zones on both ends.

There are seven players on the field on each side, with the attacking team attempting to advance across three lines to score a touchdown, which is worth six points (where they get first downs). There are no kicks in flag football, so teams have the opportunity to score one point (possession from the 3-yard line) or two (possession from the 10-yard line).

A game lasts 48 minutes (four periods of 12 minutes each) plus a 10-minute half-time break.

The regular season consists of a maximum of 15 competitions before the postseason, where some details still need to be worked out by the CHSAA.

Matchday

Instead of the multi-team jamborees of the pilot era, singles games will now dominate the schedule and students will have the opportunity to support their flag football teams just like any other sport.

Creative scheduling can help, as is the case at Regis Jesuit, where a major rivalry already exists between the parochial school and Valor Christian. The rivalry is especially fierce in tackle football, games that regularly pack the stands. This season, the girls’ flag football game will be played before the boys’ game on Aug. 30 at Valor Christian, which should give both teams a chance to show what they can do.

“Normally (at Valor) there is a big tailgate party, so we hope we will have a big crowd for that,” said Alexiah Toval, a senior at Regis Jesuit.