North Bay High School’s new girls flag football team is noticing a growing sports trend

SAN RAFAEL, California. – A North Bay high school is fielding a girls flag football team and in just a few months the sport has captured the interest of nearly 40 students.

Now the team is looking to the community to meet the high demand and keep them afloat.

For the first time, the 2028 U.S. Olympic Games in Los Angeles will feature women’s and men’s flag football, and now it’s a growing trend at Bay Area high schools.

At San Rafael High School, demand was so high to start a girls flag football team at the beginning of the school year that nearly 40 girls came to play.

“We started working with the district and the administration so we could get the funding and everything in place and magically it happened at the beginning of the year,” senior Larissa “Shorty” Anavisea Baltazar said.

Teacher and coach Shannon McClure said local artists and businesses helped the new team obtain footballs, design the uniforms and supply the flags.

“Everything was really an uphill battle for us as a team, we had to fight for everything and really just work to get what we needed,” McClure said.

Since August, the girls have played 12 games in the Bay Area.

“We haven’t won one yet, but every time we go out we’re better,” McClure said.

Freshmen and seniors alike, the team is a family.

“For the different ages, I would have said we were pretty close,” junior Brisa Briseno said.

The Bulldogs followed in the footsteps of the city’s pioneering Terra Linda Trojans, who became the first in the school district to build a girls team last year.

Their head coach, Roy Leon, said they grew from 14 players to 33 players this season.

“Football is not stupid for girls. This is just an alternative for us just because we couldn’t play with another gender. This is for everyone,” Baltazar said.

For McClure, who played while she was in school, it’s all about empowering young women.

“Girls help girls be powerful,” says McClure. “Raising strong girls and strong women is something I believe in.”

As the sport grows, McClure said she plans to create a junior varsity and varsity team.

The team is three games away from the end of the season, but they are still looking for financing to play next week. The team is raising money GoFundMe.