The Los Angeles Rams recently hosted their inaugural Girl’s Flag Spring Classic at El Camino College. Over 500 flag football players competed in tournament-style play.
The Classic included a high school seven-on-seven tournament. There were also five-on-five tournaments in four divisions: 10U, 12U, 14U, and 18U. The winners of the tournament received a trophy along with championship rings.
The 2023-2024 school year is the first year that girl’s flag football was a sanctioned sport in the CIF.
“There have been youth teams who have been playing for years and some of those youth teams are out here,” said Rams associate manager of social justice and football development Noel Grigsby. “We want the opportunity to not only celebrate high school and the one-year anniversary since it’s been sanctioned but also youth girl’s flag which has been going around for a while.”
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The football stadium and soccer fields at El Camino were divided into flag football fields. Several matches were going on at once, the youth displayed their talents, teamwork, and competitiveness.
“I like to play with my friends and I like to play against other people,” said seventh grade student Londynn Brown. “Effort is everything because if one person on the team isn’t doing well then the rest of the team is just gonna start doing worse and worse.”
Teams throughout the Southern California area competed in the Classic. Tre Wilson, the coach of the Scorpions Elite 10U team from San Diego, hopes his players learn from competition that has more experience than they do.
“They don’t never get down and out or get too upset,” Wilson said about the way Scorpions Elite competed. “They ain’t really get mad when stuff didn’t go their way … they just played.”
During the Classic, the Rams Football Academy hosted a coed youth clinic for kids ages five to 14 years old. They participated in several drills, including catching and running.
The Legends Elite girls flag football team competed for the first time together at the Classic, their coach Monique Adams wanted to see what talents and qualities the team possessed.
“We have a lot of speed,” Adams said. “The defensive players that we have, they’re really tough.”
Along with competition, the Flag Football classic had a festival atmosphere which included a vendor village and food trucks. Attendees had the opportunity to take photos with Rams Cheerleaders and their mascot Rampage.
“It’s really fun because you get to go against different teams and not just the same people over and over again,” said fourth-grader Amaya Brown. “My favorite part is having time to spend with your friends.”
