TRANSCRIPT:
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Luis Hernandez: I recall in the late eighties, every year during homecoming, there was a girls’ flag football game and it was an event no one wanted to miss. The game was intense. It was competitive, but it’s taken decades for the sport to get recognition. Right now, only nine states have sanctioned girls’ flag football. Rhode Island is working to become one of them and this is happening as the NFL is putting its weight behind flag football, featuring a big commercial during the Super Bowl this year. I’m joined now by Johnson High School Athletic Director, Justin Erickson. Justin, it’s a pleasure. Thank you.
Justin Erickson: No problem. Thanks for having us.
Hernandez: And also joining me is one of the school’s flag football players, Olivia Iafredi. Olivia, thank you for joining us.
Olivia Iafrate: Thank you.
Hernandez: Justin, I’m going to start with you. When and how did the idea for a girls’ flag football program come up?
Erickson: So one of my assistant coaches, Randy Phillips, came up to me and said, “Hey, we really want to start a girls’ flag football team.” I said, “Well, first we have to start it as a club and then we can really, kind of, get grounds.” As I did more research on it, seeing the states that sanctioned it and seeing how the NFL is behind it, I figured it’d be good to bring to the Interscholastic League and bring to the state associations and to try and get it to get legs growing.
Hernandez: What was your first impression, Justin, when the idea came up? What were you thinking about?
Erickson: I thought it was great because it’s another opportunity for our girls to participate in sports. It’s all about a fair and equal playing field, and sometimes girls’ sports get not as much acknowledgment. It’s a great way for them to be on the same level as the male athletes.
Hernandez: Olivia, first of all, how did you find out about the team and what was your first thought about it? I mean, you know, was it a given you wanted to be part of this?
Iafrate: So I found out from coach Randy. I was at basketball practice one day and he came in talking to my basketball coaches and he was like, “I’m starting a girls’ flag football team for the school and I want you to play.” At first, I was like, “Oh, that’s like new. Like, I’ve never heard of girls’ flag football being a thing in like Rhode Island. And then when he told me, I was like, this could be fun.
Hernandez: Justin, realistically, what’s it going to take to make this a sanctioned sport in Rhode Island?
Erickson: I see us getting sanctioned by ‘27, at the latest. We have a survey going out to all the athletic directors right now. “Would you like to sanction it for spring of ‘26? Would you like to be part of a trial league? Or if your budget can’t allow for spring of 26, [would] you want to push to spring of ‘27?”
We’re getting a lot of good responses back. Seven said yes to the trial league. We have seven teams for the trial league this spring. Five said yes for the spring of ‘26, and then seven said yes for ‘27. The idea is to play on Saturdays in May and we have three games going at once.
Hernandez: Olivia, it’s taken a long time for finally the girls to have football. What’s the best part about playing football for you? What do you enjoy most about it?
Iafrate: I would definitely say getting closer to people who usually don’t participate in sports. I feel like it kind of brings everyone together as a team and a community when I go to the football games for my high school. I’m always like, “Wow, I wish that could be me on the field.” So it definitely feels good to be like, “Hey, I do flag football,” and I can finally be on the field playing. … I definitely think it’s a good thing that it’s kind of starting to develop well. So I feel like starting something new where a lot of girls find interest in (it) is well for the community and just, I feel, overall in girls’ sports. So I’m definitely glad that it’s starting to become a serious thing.
