Sequim High School is adding its first officially sanctioned sport in 24 years – girls flag football.
Practices are set to begin Nov. 17 for any high school girl interested as it will be a no-cut sport this year, said Athletic Director Ian Henley.
“I’m super excited we have the opportunity,” he said in an interview. “There’s a lot of community interest.”
Sequim School Board’s directors unanimously approved the new sport at their Nov. 3 meeting, following the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) representative assembly sanctioning the new sport in April and it becoming official on Aug. 1.
Sequim’s last sanctioned sport was girls bowling in the 2001-2002 school year; the WIAA had sanctioned it in 1999.
“To simply provide more opportunities for young women is just terrific,” said Sequim School Board director Maren Halvorsen on Nov. 3.
Fellow board member Patrice Johnston said introducing the new sport is exciting and that it’s impressive to get off the ground so quickly.
Henley said adding a sport in the middle of the school year is not common, and they were considering offering it next school year, and/or in a cooperative with another school district, but interest level was high.
“Once the WIAA approved the sport, people started coming out of the woodwork,” he said.
A community survey was given to every high school girl and of the 87 who responded, nearly all requested more information.
Henley said that as of last week, they had 11 athletes signed up. A minimum of seven is needed to make up a team.
Girls flag football brings SHS’s sports totals to 13 for girls and 10 for boys.
To meet Title IX standards for equity in sports offerings, Henley said they must see similar participation numbers from boys and girls, but some girls sports have relatively low participation rates, so flag football will help bring the total up.
He said in recent totals, there were about a dozen more girls than boys in sports both in the high school and middle school.
In recent years, SHS has had a cooperative with Port Angeles High School due to low turnout for the Wolves’ boys swim team, but Henley said the co-op is not happening this year because Sequim has 14 boys interested in swimming this winter.
Season logistics
Sequim will play flag football in the Olympic League with Bainbridge, Bremerton, Kingston, Klahowya, Olympic, North Kitsap, and Port Angeles. North Mason will tentatively join next year, Henley said.
Games will all be played at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursdays with one host site hosting four teams and two games going simultaneously. Each team will play two games.
Sequim hosts its home games on Dec. 18 (playing Klahowya and Port Angeles) and Jan. 29 (against Bainbridge and Bremerton).
Henley said teams will play their games in shortened spaces on Myron Teterud’s Field in the district stadium (stáʔčəŋ, a S’Klallam word pronounced “stah-chung” meaning “wolf”).
Girls flag football will be played on the west side of Washington to start, and the postseason starts in February, he said.
In his conversation with maintenance staff, Henley said they’re confident the field will hold up through the winter.
Marking off fields will likely be done by coaches, he said, and they’re working on logistics for bathrooms during home games as water is typically shut off to the stadium in the winter.
Coaches this season will be Kathleen Rose, head coach, and Terry Wopperer, assistant, who have both coached for Sequim.
Cost to play will be $75 for players along with an ASB card.
Startup costs
According to an informational sheet, the approximate cost to the district to start girls flag football will be about $15,000 for its first season with about $11,100 for coaching stipends, about $1,500 for van transportation, and less than $2,000 for game referees at home games for the season.
Henley told board directors that SHS’s ASB general fund has committed $10,000 to help pay for uniforms and they can be used for multiple years.
“Overall, the costs when comparing to another varsity sport’s startup are significantly lower,” he said.
He said equipment is relatively inexpensive for flags and cones, and they’ll be using vans instead of buses due to the anticipated size of the team.
Superintendent Regan Nickels confirmed for board directors that the district’s portion for the sport will be funded by its Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) levy, and they’ll assess the sport’s costs as it progresses, and consider a boosters program.
For more information about sign-ups, visit sequimathletics.com.
