Ella Ranzoni was taking notes while watching the Washington Commanders' training camp practice on Saturday. The 10th grader, who just started playing flag football a couple weeks ago, was paying close attention to what Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin were doing in particular.
"I like playing wide receiver or quarterback, so I was seeing what they were doing and looking at how they ran," she said. "Seeing how a professional football team trains and how hard they train makes me want to push harder on my practices."
Ranzoni and her girls flag teammates from Potomac Falls High School, along with the Loudoun Valley girls flag team, took in the training camp sights from a suite on Saturday. After practice wrapped, the teams were led down to the fields where they interacted with Commanders team president Mark Clouse, head coach Dan Quinn, general manager Adam Peters before a couple of players, including Jayden Daniels and Mike Sainristil shared some words of encouragement.
Sainristil, who is a women's sports advocate and girl dad, revealed brand-new uniforms for Potomac Falls (purple) and Loudoun Valley (green). New gear is just one way the Commanders will be supporting these two programs and other Virginia schools this fall. The organization is also providing financial support, NFL Flag Kits and GameBreaker AURA protective headbands to over 50 Virginia teams. As these schools get ready for their inaugural flag seasons, the Commanders are determined to ensure coaches and athletes are set up for long-term success.
The establishment of girls flag as a high school sport in Virginia High School Leagues has taken extensive work and activism behind the scenes. The sport has exploded in growth around the country, and high schools have recognized how much potential it has. Ella Corpuz, a 10th grader at Loudoun Valley, was one of those early adopters. She has been playing flag with her travel team, the Virginia Hurricanes, for the last few years and "doing everything [she] could" to have the chance to play at her high school.
"It's just the one sport that I had a passion for, and I really wanted to play in high school, and I'm really glad that we can now," Corpuz said.
Leaders like school administrators and coaches have also seen that bringing girls flag to high school goes deeper than just giving female student-athletes another sport to play for a finite time; it's about creating opportunities that can impact countless lives in the future.
"It's an opportunity for a career or a pathway or even support one day and to stay in the community," said Potomac Falls principal Dr. Tara Woolever.
It's that reality that makes the Commanders' partnerships with these schools important. Support from the Burgundy & Gold "gives weight" behind the sport, Loudoun Valley High School girls flag head coach Matt Greve said.
"There will be more recognition, especially with the surrounding states sanctioning this as a high school sport already. There's going to be a great chance for Virginia to do so as well," Greve said.
D.C. and Maryland sanctioned girls flag at the high school level this past spring, meaning increased competition, resources and visibility for the teams from their respective high school athletic associations. The goal is for Virginia to be next. There's no shortage of hope around this sport. Seeing how far it has come and where it can go with the right support keeps inspiring everyone involved.
"It gives us some type of confidence and shows us that we're actually doing something big here," Corduz said. "I hope that girls can get more confidence and build their love for the sport and just continue growing."
