For the first time since its opening in 2008, Plainfield East athletes will be gearing up for their inaugural girls flag football season this upcoming fall during the 2025-26 school year.
Following the recent trend of flag football teams popping up all across the country, including the Southwest Prairie Conference, head coach Lauren McNichols came to athletic director Paul Raspolich with the idea of finally giving girls a shot at one of high school’s most popular sports.
“When I saw that as a new sport, as a female coach, I’m all for giving more athletic opportunities for girls,” said McNichols.
According to the IHSA, more than 140 schools in Illinois have joined the flag football scene in the past two years alone, a number that is only expected to grow. This has been spearheaded by the Chicago Bears, who regularly provide donations in order to promote the sport.
“Even before her coming to me, it’s proven that the popularity nationwide, it’s taking off,” said Raspolich. “Which is great. It’s been around for a little while, there’s flag football leagues, the NFL has taken an interest in this as well.”
This popularity holds true at Plainfield East, where athletes who participate in winter or spring sports are excited about the new opportunity.
“It’s become a very popular sport, we did have an initial meeting, an interest meeting, we had at the interest meeting 50-some girls show up,” said Raspolich.
Even more girls were interested who were unable to attend because of other sports. McNichols plans on being a no-cut team the first year, so as many athletes as possible can get involved.
“Something that’s also exciting about it is that since it is our first year, there’s a lot of room for error and not too much pressure on us, so we can be competitive but also still have fun,” said Haylen Nguyen, junior.
Despite only having one meeting ever, the team is already forming chemistry and bonding over trying something new.
“Even though I hadn’t talked to any of the girls I was talking to, it felt so connected,” said Camila Jimenez, junior.
McNichols along with her coaching staff of Dave Jackson and Christopher Phills are ready to instill a hard-working culture during open gyms in May and summer camp in July in preparation for the season.
“As much as this sport is considered no-contact, how aggressive these girls can be while playing is a very real thing,” said McNichols. “I want to make sure the girls are ready for that, and when I mentioned that at the meeting, they seemed even more excited about it.”
