The fastest-growing sport in Pennsylvania? Girls flag football

Last season, Reimel led local powerhouse Lansdale Catholic to the league’s first championship but to help the sport grow he made the decision to build Wissahickon’s program from the ground up and took on a new role as coach of the first-team School.

“Actually, I teach middle school, and at the end of the season I went to the high school athletic director and said, ‘Hey, you have to do that.’ Basically he gave me an option. He said, ‘We’ll do it. But you have to coach.'”

Reimel has been an influential supporter of the flag football community for more than a decade and has witnessed its rapid evolution at every step. But when throngs of high schoolers came to try their hand as charter players for Wissahickon’s programs, he was still impressed. He counted an amazing 52 interested athletes.

“Flags are a sport for everyone. It doesn’t matter how big, no matter how tall or old you are. It’s for everyone,” said Reimel.

“When I went to the first practice session and all these girls actually showed up, some of them didn’t know anything about soccer or flag football, there was a desire to try something new but also to try something the guys are already doing. It just gives them an opportunity to do something they’ve been told their whole life they can’t do.”

Wissahickon is one of 22 teams joining the league for the 2022 season – a total of 38 teams across the region have committed to compete this spring. Another 14 teams have done so in New Jersey. For girls’ flag football to be a state-sponsored high school sport, 100 schools across Pennsylvania must participate.

“At first I was a little surprised just to see how it turned out,” said Lansdale Catholic quarterback Bridget Keyser, looking back on the league’s first year.

“I didn’t know how many girls would show up and not just show up, but be able to be really good at it, understand it and love it. It’s not like a lot of people can get this opportunity, so if we get the opportunity it just opens up so many doors.”

Keyser is one of hundreds of athletes who have benefited from the league’s formation. It’s been just five years since she first played football – and, as she said best, doors have been opening for her ever since.

After posting a highlight reel of her flag football skills on her Instagram profile, she attracted the interest of college programs across the country and started her college recruitment process. After speaking to several coaches and attending universities, she was given the opportunity to play at the next level as a scholarship recipient at Milligan University in Tennessee.

“In the beginning I was very nervous, I couldn’t even throw a soccer ball,” Keyser said. “But the whole flag football community is like one big support network.

“I hope one day the flag will be in almost every high school in Pennsylvania and every high school in America because it gives girls an opportunity for so many different things — they could play in college, they could want to have a career – it opens so many doors and connections.”

Flag football is changing the lives of girls like Keyser across the state, and the Eagles are committed to supporting its expansion every step of the way.

“I think every high school needs to pick it up because there’s definitely a girl out there waiting for an opportunity,” Keyser said.