Two years ago, a game between Hamilton High School and Casteel High School ended with a splash that has propelled girls' flag football forward.
Former Arizona Cardinals youth football club manager Mo Streety describes the game as the moment flag football took off.
"The AIA (Arizona Interscholastic Association) president was there, and a key play at the end of the game was a girl kicked a field goal," Streety said. "The ball goes through the goalposts and into the pool during a swim meet. And everybody, even the swimmers, everybody, just cheered; it got loud. And he looked at me and said, 'We're going to do this,' and that was it."
Streety worked for the Cardinals for 20 years. During that time, he saw flag football begin growing across the Southwest. A crucial component was the Cardinals and Streety’s efforts to expand the game through tournaments.
"Our Cardinals regional NFL flag tournaments, our tournament during the NFL draft and our state championships were all catalysts for growth," Streety said. "For where you now see guys who are playing in the National Football League who came out of this, and then you have girls now."
Streety worked to create opportunities for youth in flag football with the help of Renee Small. When the sport was taking off, Small was one of the top female referees in NFL Flag leagues. Small has been able to see the game from many different angles.
Nearly 21 years ago, Small and her son moved from Massachusetts to Arizona to train with Streety. In Boston, Small helped train her son, then she brought that football expertise to Phoenix and Streety took notice.
Small's work with Streety at various camps resulted in her creating a name for herself as a referee and starting her own assigning company to change the environment amongst officials.
"I wanted to give back and change the culture a little bit," Small said. "I saw it changing with younger referees, and the appreciation, and the love, and respect for being an official."
Throughout her career, Small has dedicated a lot of time to studying the sport. Her devotion to flag football has gained her respect and success in a male-dominated field.
"Just consistently staying with it and honing my craft, networking and letting it be known that I can officiate just as well as a guy," Small said.
Small has advocated for girls in sports since day one, whether officiating or playing. In recent years, she has seen the number of girls participating grow.
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"It's grown so much and made me so happy to see," Small said. "Little girls run up to me like, 'I want to be an official when I grow up. I'm so glad you're my official. Where have you been?'"
Robert Judkins, former NFL broadcast engineer and partner at Blue Chip Youth Sports, has witnessed the sport's growth from behind the scenes. At Blue Chip Youth Sports, Judkins aims to increase the visibility and reach of flag football. The network will provide coverage of games and tournaments, specifically highlighting talented young female athletes.
"Now that flag 2028 will be an Olympic sport, it's just going to exponentially take off, in addition to worldwide," Judkins said. "We're starting to see that worldwide growth, and other countries are becoming interested in American flag football."
Judkins has seen strong female athletes emerge as the sport grows, and he believes they're creating a competitive environment that is exciting to watch.
"Flag football for girls in the last two years, it's just been growing like crazy," Judkins said. "I actually think the girls' competition and the girls' play is much more intense and just a lot of fun to watch; some of the athletes are just amazing."
As the number of female participants grows, Small wants these girls to set an example as student-athletes balancing work in the classroom and on the field.
"I want them to set an example that your grades still have to matter and your behavior outside of sports has to matter," Small said. "The way you carry yourself has to matter. So it doesn't matter that you're a stud or you're a superstar on your team. You still need to know how to write, you still need to know how to read and you need to know how to articulate yourself."
With the growth of high school teams around the Valley, opportunities for collegiate flag football seem to be on the horizon, especially for multi-sport female athletes.
"They'll be playing two and three sports in college, because it's allowed and it's the norm," Streety said. "You have volleyball players and basketball players playing flag football, soccer, too. And to encourage more girls to do it, it's just making them understand this is yet another opportunity to get a scholarship."
The growth of a sport and its culture doesn't happen overnight. It takes advocacy and leadership for things to change. Small's work has even rubbed off on her granddaughter, who helped start a flag football club at her school.
"She had the very first touchdown at the very first game at the school, and they made a big deal out of it," Small said. "I was just so proud of her. I told her, 'Now you're an advocate. You can now carry the torch.'"
Edited by Jack Barron, Sophia Braccio and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at cjoneil6@asu.edu and follow @cjojournalism on X.
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Char is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also reported for AZPreps365, Blaze Radio and Phoenix College Basketball.
