From 2 Players to 25: How Girls Flag Football Is Exploding at One Los Angeles High School

Smidt Tech had just two girls in its flag football program last year. Nearly 40 tried out this season as the Lincoln Heights school joined roughly 3,000 athletes at the Rams' annual event.

Thousands of female athletes gather during the Rams Girls' Flag Jamboree | Deb Whitcas

A year ago, Smidt Tech barely had enough girls to begin building a flag football program.

There were two.

This fall, nearly 40 girls tried out at the Lincoln Heights school. Twenty-five made the team.

For coach Junior Monzon, the transformation was on display Saturday when Smidt Tech joined more than 130 teams and roughly 3,000 athletes at the Los Angeles Rams' fourth annual Girls' Flag Jamboree.

The numbers told the larger story. The Rams described the Sept. 26 event, presented by Bridgestone, as the largest single-day girls' flag football event hosted by an NFL club. But Monzon only needed to look at his own sideline to see how quickly the sport was growing.

A First Sport for More Than Half the Team

Monzon had attended the jamboree before, but this was Smidt Tech's first appearance as a team.

The growth at Smidt Tech wasn't simply attracting girls from other sports. Flag football was creating athletes.

Monzon said 14 of the 25 players on his roster had never previously played a sport.

“It’s one of the sports that allows any girl to participate, any girl to learn how to play,” Monzon said.

His new players were developing their skills, competing and growing stronger mentally and physically, he added.

A Bigger Stage for Girls Flag Football

Smidt Tech senior quarterback Isabella Cortez loved the competition, but she also valued what happened between plays. Offense and defense had different jobs, she said, yet the players had grown closer as one team.

Cortez was grateful to share the field with so many other athletes. The Rams, she said, were “giving us the spotlight” and a chance to show their talent.

For senior Kaylee Valdez, the jamboree came during her first year playing flag football. After primarily playing indoor sports such as volleyball, Valdez found a new way to compete and bond with teammates through football. She hoped to continue improving and perhaps attract the attention of college scouts.

Andrew Whitworth Wanted His Daughters to See It

Former Rams offensive lineman and Super Bowl champion Andrew Whitworth attended with his two daughters. He said people often asked about his sons and whether they might follow him into football, but rarely asked about his daughters.

“I don’t usually get asked about my daughters,” Whitworth said. “They’re just as important. They have just as much in life that they can accomplish.”

Whitworth wanted his daughters to see other young women pursuing a passion — and to see him supporting them. He also told the athletes that sports taught lessons they could carry into school, work and adulthood: how to handle setbacks, respond to success and keep working at something difficult.

Rams football development official Noel Grigsby said the organization wanted to build opportunities beyond a single Saturday. The club has launched a community club initiative designed to make flag football accessible outside the high school season and help younger players find a path into the game.

For Smidt Tech, that pathway is already taking shape. A program that had two players a year ago arrived at the Rams' jamboree with a 25-player roster, a senior quarterback leading the offense and first-time athletes wondering how far the game might take them.

They came to see how big girls flag football had become.

Their own sideline provided part of the answer.