By Indianna Koehn
Staff Writer
On Sept. 29, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced girls flag football as an official high school sport in Southern California. Taking the lead, Redondo Union High School has already begun putting players on the field.
Athletic director Mike Rosenthal officially approved the creation of a girls flag football team here at Costa. According to Rosenthal, he has met with sophomore flag football player Sophie Guitron, a Mustang who is currently spearheading the effort to start a Costa flag football team.
“We are in the process of putting our team together,” Rosenthal said. “There are a few schools in the area who have a team right now, and many of those local schools are planning to start with girls flag football in the fall of 2023.”
The coach of the girls flag football program will be scouted by posting an opening on the district website where applicants can go through the same process that would be used to hire a head coach of any other sport. According to Rosenthal, the girls flag football team will be coached by whom- ever best fits Costa’s spirit and sportsmanship.
“Flag football is a great sport, and I am excited that CIF has approved it,” Rosenthal said. “In order to find the right coach, we would interview qualified candidates and choose the best fit for the team.”
According to Rosenthal, practice schedules of this newly-funded sport will be based on the new head coach’s ideas toward the team, along with his or her overall expectations for the girls. Rosenthal wants the team to be treated equally like the other sports teams at Costa. This means the girls will partake in a complete league schedule and will practice on the football field.
“In the fall, we have both soccer teams, both lacrosse teams, all three football teams, and band scheduled for field practice,” Rosenthal said. “Our fields are busy, but that is a good problem to have.”
According to Rosenthal, the new girls flag football team will be included in Costa’s field routine like every other sport. Rosenthal enjoys the chaos from all the different Costa athletes just as much as he loves the success the Mustang competitors bring.
“I think that a girls flag football team is a step in the right direction toward equality in men’s and women’s sports,” junior Lindsay Syverson said. “Clearly CIF made the right decision.”
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