Good for the Raiders. Good for the NIAA. Good for anyone who helped make this happen.
The girls flag football state championships were played at Allegiant Stadium on Thursday, and there couldn’t have been a better place for a sport that is wildly accelerating across the country.
It’s the same venue that hosted the prep football state finals in November. The same that has been home to such championship games every fall since 2021.
And flag deserved its shot at playing in a big-time setting.
So folks came together to make things official in the last several days. Made sure it would occur.
Jackson Powers-Johnson remembers his own state championship games in Utah, having played in a stadium that allowed for some lasting memories.
The offensive lineman for the Raiders — who was in attendance Thursday and presented the Class 3A state trophy to four-time champion Virgin Valley — believes the same will happen for all who competed across the three title games.
Getting after it
“These girls are going to be able to create those memories on such a big stage and great place to play,” Powers-Johnson said. “It’s great to be part of and watch them play. They’re getting after it. I love it. It’s very entertaining.”
You see where the NFL stands on this. All you had to do was watch the Super Bowl commercial titled “NFL Flag 50” to know. It starred Liberty High’s Ki’Lolo Westerlund and honored girls prep sports, specifically flag football.
“All the things I’m doing is trying to set everyone up for success,” Westerlund said earlier this month. “For anyone who loves the game to have the opportunity to play.”
It’s the fastest-growing sport globally and will debut in the Olympics at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“It has brought young women into the sport and given them a chance to play, which I think is incredibly valuable and rewarding to our future,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters earlier this year.
Young women like Virgin Valley junior quarterback Davie Slack. She was terrific Thursday in leading the Bulldogs to yet another championship. This one was a 19-6 victory against Boulder City.
Virgin Valley, the team from Mesquite — population fewer than 23,000 — saw a whole different world inside Allegiant Stadium.
“It was really cool,” Slack said. “I liked the experience of playing where the NFL plays. There are really no words for it. It’s amazing. I’m speechless about it. I can’t even really put into words what this means to us.
“It’s once-in-a-lifetime experience. If I ever got to do it again, I totally would. Maybe we can do it again next year.”
At least 65 NCAA schools are sponsoring women’s flag football at either the club or varsity levels this year, with more slated to join in 2026. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Nevada joined Florida as the second state to sanction flag football as a varsity high school sport in 2016-17.
It’s a goal of the NFL for all 50 states to one day do the same. Fifteen do now, and several others are looking to add it.
Doing their part
The Raiders have certainly done their part. They first reached out about hosting the flag finals during the season as a way to support the NFL’s efforts to grow the sport.
The 2023 finals were played at the Raiders’ headquarters in Henderson. Give the silver and black team credit. It has — since arriving in Las Vegas — championed local high school sports.
“It’s amazing,” Powers-Johnson said. “You have to give a lot of props to (owner) Mark Davis. You have to give a lot of props to our organization.”
Good for the Raiders.
Good for the NIAA.
Good for anyone who helped make this happen.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at [email protected]. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.
