PORT ANGELES — This week, Olympic Peninsula high school girls begin play for the first time in flag football.
Both the Sequim and Port Angeles school boards approved adding girls flag football as a winter sport. The girls have been practicing for weeks, holding a scrimmage between the two teams last year to learn rules that are vastly different from boys football.
The Wolves and Roughriders begin league play Thursday with a pair of games in Bainbridge. The games entail a pair of 20-minute halves, so they will jam in two games over the course of two hours.
Sequim and Port Angeles start off by playing each other at 6 p.m. Port Angeles will then play Bainbridge at 7 p.m., while Sequim will play North Kitsap at 7 p.m. North Kitsap and Bainbridge also play each other at 6 p.m.
The Wolves and Riders will have plenty of players in good shape as both squads will feature a lot of soccer players who just wrapped up their fall seasons. A lot of these kids play softball or track in the spring, so flag football is a great winter sport to keep them active in the winter months.
Sequim features soccer players Kylie Winter, Raimey Brewer, Olive Bridge, Lily Sparks and Ruby Moxley-Horgan.
Sequim coach Kathleen Rose said the Wolves have a good turnout with about 20 players. She expects Winter to be the team’s quarterback.
“We’re definitely raw and learning a lot of new terminology,” Rose said. “But we have a lot of athleticism on this team.”
Rose is also excited that there are three seniors, three juniors and the rest of the team are freshmen and sophomores who get the chance to grow into the fledgling sport.
“It’s really exciting for us as adults to have this inaugural season. It’s a big deal. For the girls, I think it’s more ‘OK, we’re here, coach. What do we do?’ ”
There are numerous rules differences between flag football and traditional football. The obvious difference as most people know is no tackling. Players are down when a flag at their hips is torn off. Flag football is played 7-on-7. The quarterback cannot run the ball. There is no kicking game; no punts or field goals. A fumble is simply a dead play, though a defensive player can intercept and run back a pass.
Port Angeles coach Sam Salanoa has experience coaching YAC flag football. His turnout isn’t quite as big, with eight girls so far, but he is very impressed with his squad and how quickly they are learning the game.
“It’s amazing, man,” he said. “The girls pick up everything. They’re so smart. They make my job easy. They understand how to play the game and run a route.”
Salanoa said players often have to wear a wrist band with the play calls, but the Port Angeles girls will be able to play without them.
“They have 15 plays with no wristbands. They remember everything,” he said.
Like the Sequim squad, the Port Angeles team will feature a lot of athletic soccer players. League co-defensive MVP Kennedy Rognlien is on the flag football team, as are soccer players Allison Fricker and Addy Fox. Audrey Rudd and distance runner Miriam Cobb are also on the Roughriders’ squad.
Rose said the jamboree with Port Angeles was important for both teams so the players could get more familiar with the rules.
“It was important for us and Port Angeles to get on a field,” before playing real games, she said.
Some of the Kitsap County teams have been around two or three years so they have a bit of a head-start on the Olympic Peninsula teams. Salanoa said Bremerton had the No. 2 flag football team in the state last year.
“So we’ll have a bit of a learning curve at the beginning of the year,” Rose said.
