“Its a really cool feeling. It’s kind of surreal, because I never really thought that we’d have a new sport that I could be a part of so It’s really cool.”
2025 marks Maize High school becoming one of the first nine schools in the Wichita area to have a girls flag football team. Maize High’s team has been doing very well not only in wins with a 5-1 record so far this season, but also making a positive impact and creating a new legacy at Maize High.
The Wichita Sports Commission brought this idea to the athletic directors of the area through an email they sent informing that the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to donate and sponsor girls flag football teams around Wichita. After a zoom call with all athletic directors in the area a decision was made. By being sponsored by the Kansas City Chiefs, Maize High Athletic Director Dan Loving believes flag football was an easy decision to make in order to give girls more of an opportunity to be involved in sports.
“When you’re involved in something, then you’re more engaged in school, you do better, because there’s a risk of losing that thing that you want to do,” Loving said. “The chiefs made it financially feasible for us to be able to do that this year by donating money, they did to all the schools, and so that just made it an easy decision.”
The girls of Maize High who all play different sports have come together to build a team that is new to all of them. With the support of their coach Shelby Hillman they have been working hard at 6 am Tuesday through Thursday before school to practice and pick these skills. Coach Hillman explains that getting the opportunity to coach this sport has been a blessing for her and something that she hopes to continue to do in the upcoming years.
“It’s a blessing for me,” Hillman said. “Like I truly feel blessed to be their coach, and it brings me joy just being able to do this for them, and it’s just blessed me beyond measure.’
Hillman also explains that because the girls come to practice everyday with a positive attitude it has helped them grow so much not only in their ability but also teamwork and work ethic.
“They show up every morning, ready to put in the work,” Hillman said. “They have great attitudes and again, just showing up is huge, and they want to learn, they want to get better.”
Maize High Junior and defensive player Lila Francis says even with doubts at first of not being able to pick up the skills and being nervous about tryouts , she has loved getting the opportunity to not only learn a new sport but to also be a part of something new that is creating such an impact. Francis also explains that she is honored to be a part of something that could inspire younger girls to try out and will only continue to grow and be better for future flag football stars.
“I hope that girls that are watching us right now want to play flag football, because I think it’s a really cool sport that deserves more recognition, because it’s really undercover right now but once people figure out more about it it could expand a lot more.” Francis said.
The Wichita sports commission wants to continue to recruit more schools to participate in this sport and hopefully make it into an official Kansas State High School Activities Association led sport. These teams around Wichita are creating a legacy that will grow within their districts for years to come.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Francis said. “I love being able to showcase my talents off and show people what we’ve been working on and working towards and I just love showing my Maize pride.”
