WEST VALLEY PREPS

Arizona high school flag football doubles opportunities for girls

Chandler Hamilton junior wide receiver Samara Taylor-Jenkins looks to avoid Mesa Red Mountain senior rusher Trisha Stine Groves during the 6A flag football state title game Nov. 23 at CHandler High School.

(Courtesy Heather Hackett/For Independent Newsmedia)

Canyon View senior receiver/defensive back Makenzie Pope reaches out with the ball and tries to avoid having her flag pulled during the 5A flag football championship game against Mountain Pointe Nov. 23 at Chandler High School. She finished with two receiving touchdowns and an interception return for a touchdown in the Jaguars' 34-14 win.

(Courtesy Ben Stapley/AZPreps365)

Shadow Ridge senior running back Nia Young tries to avoid getting her flag pulled in the school's first home flag football game Sept. 26 in Surprise against Prescott.

(Courtesy Ryan McGinley/Dysart Schools)

This fall high school girls flag football, sanctioned by the Arizona Interscholastic Association, nearly doubled in size.

The season just finished in November saw 101 schools participate in 2024 after 54 schools played in 2023. When the AIA announced the addition of flag football in December 2022, there were 32 schools.

If anecdotal observations are accurate, the sport also doubled in quality in 2024, if not from the fall of 2023 then certainly since an unsanctioned spring 2023 season that served as a dry run.

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