The countdown to the biggest sporting event is well underway. On Sunday, February 13th the National Football League will be front center when the Los Angeles Rams play the Cincinnati Bengal in Superbowl LVI. Seven days prior to Sunday, high school girls from the Seattle and Tacoma area participated in their own version of the Superbowl. Thanks to a unique partnership.
The partnership is part of the $5 million multi-year grant initiative the NFL announced in 2021, in partnership with Nike, dedicated to growing girls flag football — and creating more gender equity — within high school athletics throughout the U.S.
“The WIAA is eager to partner with the Seattle Seahawks and Nike to expand the number of education-based athletic opportunities for girls in our state,” said WIAA Executive Director, Mick Hoffman. “It is our hope that this initiative will reach a new group of students who can receive the physical, social and emotional benefits that are tied to participation in sports and activities.”
Last Sunday a partnership between the Seattle Seahawks, Nike Underdog sports, the Seattle Majestics, and the Seattle School Districts Athletics Department along with the WIAA produced an event that rivaled the Superbowl for the High School girls.
On a rare sun-bleached afternoon, Nine high schools from Seattle and Tacoma participated in the inaugural Seattle Public Schools Flag Football Jamboree at Memorial Stadium. High school athletes from Rainier Beach, Chief Sealth, Ingraham, and Tacoma Schools Stadium, Foss, Salis, and Mount Si showed cased their passing, throwing, and cover skills.
MAJESTICS PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
The Seattle Majestics a women’s tackle football team playing its games in Kent provided a continuous skills clinic while Underdog Sports provided the officials.
The continuous skills clinics allowed the female athletes to hone their skills from midday sun to sundown. The Seahawks and Nike made sure the female athletes played and looked the part.
LONG TERM COMMITMENT
In addition to the shoes and flags, the Seahawks have committed $250,000 in grant funding over the next five years to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) to support the creation of high school girls flag football programs across the state. Nike committed an additional $100,000 in product donations to the WIAA, to provide the schools with uniforms, socks, and other accessories, like sports bras, needed to play.
The afternoon saw new friendships established in the name of competition, along with renewed hope and desire to be professional athletic outside of the traditional college sports.
For some of the athletes, Sunday was their first time wearing a flag football, running a go route, and playing a two-deep zone defense. If the first impression is a lasting impression last Sunday’s inaugural Metro League flag football Jamboree left many are happy faces that will last a very long time.
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