Sophia Castaneda has attended many football games with the Edgewood cheerleading team.
Avery Vencill grew up watching her cousins play on Friday nights and used to throw the football around with her friends in the backyard.
Carly Kray’s brother, Logan, played for Edgewood for a couple of years, and her father, Athletic Director Steve Kray, is a big Michigan fan.
“But, I’m not,” she said with a laugh.
The three girls, along with about 20 others on the Warriors team, all seem to have some sort of connection to the game of football — they just never imagined they’d actually be playing it.
Until now.
The Warriors are part of the first Edgewood Girls High School Flag Football team. So far, they’re 3-0.
“It’s definitely been really fun,” starting center Annie Johnston said. “It’s very different from regular football.”
When the origination of a girls’ team was announced, she was one of many girls that jumped at the opportunity.
“When my dad first brought it up, I was super excited,” Carly Kray said. “It’s cool to be part of something new to the school.”
Castaneda added, “I was excited, but I was curious more than anything else. It sounded like a fun thing, but I wasn’t really sure how serious we were going to take it. We’ve been really serious about it, so that’s been a good thing.”
On the other hand, Makenna Rhodes, another player, had no apprehension about coming out.
“As soon as it was announced, I wanted to play,” she said. “I knew all my friends were going to play and I knew it would be a cool experience.”
The Girls Flag Football League is sponsored by the Chagrin Valley Conference in conjunction with the Cleveland Browns.
Edgewood is joined by Conneaut and Madison as area schools fielding a team.
The Warriors practice one day a week and plays games on Sundays.
Many of the players on the team are also involved in other sports, including spring sports such as track and field and softball. Others have volleyball tournaments they attend.
Edgewood coach Olajuwon Cooper understands those sports take priority for his players, but he’s still thrilled about the amount of interest the new team has generated.
“The girls were ecstatic,” the coach said of when the team was announced. “They obviously had questions. They wanted to know the structure of the game and the rules and all that.
“They obviously knew it wasn’t tackle and all that, but they wanted to know how the format of the game would be.”
The game is played five-on-five. There’s a quarterback, center, running back, and two receivers.
It’s played on a football field, but is about 50 yards long. Edgewood is currently using the turf field at Cleveland Central Catholic for its home field.
Usually this time of year, Cooper is limited to just working with his boys team in the weight room, and offseason conditioning getting ready for next fall.
Now he finds himself working with a much different group of athletes.
So far the coaching experience has been an enjoyable one.
“We have some very bright young ladies and they’ve been extremely receptive,” Cooper said. “They’re all pretty smart. Practices have been pretty basic, but for me as a coach, it’s nice to go back to the basics at the high school level.”
Kray added, “There’s a lot more into it than I thought it would be. But it’s been a lot of fun leaning about the game.”
The sport is not sanctioned by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, but everyone at Edgewood hopes that changes.
“That’s the next step,” Cooper said.
