MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There’s a new wave of athletes dominating high school football fields across the country.
Tennessee is one of 14 states to sanction Girls’ Flag Football as a high school varsity sport, and it’s gaining momentum in Shelby County.
This year marks the first season at MSCS with the sport, and one school is showing girls are capable of doing anything.
On Central High School’s football field, these girls are proving to their classmates that they are the “real deal” — the school’s first Girls’ Flag Football team.
“We can win games. We can play football,” said 10th grader Miracle Butler.
The girls are in the middle of their first-ever season, led by Head Coach Breanna Tankersley.
“Especially as a female coach, as a head coach at that, that’s a big load for me to bear, but it’s so heavy on me because I want them to understand that like they deserve to be seen,” Tankersley said.
So, when the door opened for a chance to introduce the sport to her students, Coach Tankersley immediately got the ball rolling.
“As a female athlete who played in high school, I remember constantly having to compare myself to the boys and the male sports,” she said.
Girls’ Flag Football is not new to the sports world. However, it was recently sanctioned as an emerging sport by the TSSAA.
“Which means we’re trying to bring these sports to schools and not as full blown of a capacity, just trying to see if it’ll stick,” Tankersley said.
And it definitely stuck out to students at Central High School.
Coach Tankersley says roughly 60 girls filled her classroom during her interest meeting.
Two of the students who attended were 10th grader Miracle Butler and 11th grader Laila Odom.
However, the girls quickly learned that playing an all-girls sport in a male-dominated arena can come with a few naysayers.
“It’s been good being able to prove people wrong who were like doubting us from the start,” Laila said.
Lawrence Odom is not only the team’s Offensive Coordinator; he’s also Laila’s Dad.
He says as a parent, watching the girls, many of whom have never played a sport before, overcome those obstacles and grasp the spirit of the game has been inspirational.
“They’re football players. We don’t call them girl football players. They’re football players,” he said.
Central High School is not the only school that has a girl’s flag football team in this district. In fact, there are several schools across West Tennessee that have their own team.
Ten of them are in Shelby County and eight of them are a part of the Memphis-Shelby County School district.
“We’ve got ten games on our schedule this year. Maybe next year it’s 20 and the next year it’s 30,” Tankersley said.
While she’s excited to see the game grow across the country, Tankersley said her priority is making sure young girls know they can accomplish anything they set their hearts on.
“Football is just not a sport for boys. If you really want to do something, you should do it regardless of gender or how old you are,” Laila said.
Along with Tennessee, Mississippi also sanctioned Girls’ Flag Football as a varsity sport earlier this year. –
