This school year Sentinel is making history by being one of the three flag football teams in town, the other two belonging to Hellgate and Big Sky. The team wasted no time getting started since its approval, holding open fields all summer long, and having a well maintained Instagram page.
The growth of flag football has been astonishingly high, with a 67% increase across the nation from 2019 to 2023 in the ages 6-17. Montana itself has experienced a rapid growth in the sport with the first three teams appearing in 2022. There are now 28 teams in the state.
The girls officially started their season at the end of August. The team has already played six games, and at the time this publication was written, varsity had a record of 4-2 and JV with 2-3.
Starting The Program
Last February, there was a survey sent out to all Sentinel Students about starting a girls’ flag football team. The survey was meant to see if there was any interest from girls to even make a team. There had to be at least 25 students interested. In total, there were 62 girls who expressed interest. With that number of girls, the school was not only able to make a team, but there is now a varsity and junior varsity team.
Sentinel has been busy in the past year with starting sports programs. Last spring was the boys’ baseball team’s first year, and now this fall is the flag football season. While adding new programs is beneficial and gives more opportunities to students, there is a slight hurdle: money.
It will cost the school roughly $18,000 annually to keep the program running, but thankfully, they won’t have to pay for the next three years. Thanks to the grant provided by the Atlanta Falcons and Arthur M. Blank Foundation, the school will receive $45,000 spread out until 2027.
The Arthur M. Blank Foundation is based in Atlanta, Georgia and was created in 1995. The goal is to bring a better change to the world. Since they first started, they have granted $1.3 billion to different charitable organizations.
To build a program, there needs more than just funds and interest; there needs to be people who care. When asked about how he feels coaching flag football, Head Coach Rajiem Seabrook said, “I feel great about it. It’s a great opportunity to do something different”. Seabrook has coached multiple other football teams in Missoula at Loyola and Hellgate, but him taking on the responsibility to teach a brand new team and adaptation of the game is exactly what this program needs to thrive.
The other main part of building a program is the players. When asked why play flag football, junior Lainey Jones says, “ I have been surrounded by football my entire life and I thought it was a really cool opportunity”.
Players were also asked if they wished they had this opportunity earlier in high school. junior Keria Imhoff says, “Definitely, I think if we had the opportunity to play when we were younger, we could [be] more prepared like some of the other girls in the state”, and junior Naya McKinney added, “Yes, definitely, it creates such a great community and atmosphere”.
Season So Far
Even though the teams have had some tough losses, they have also shown a lot of promise. On August 30th, Varsity blew the Kalispell Jamboree out of the water, where they went three for three against Hellgate, Big Sky, and Flathead. JV went two for three with their only loss being against Hellgate.
Their first home game didn’t go as planned, with both teams losing to Glacier .This is Glacier’s fourth season, and they are the defending state champions. Varsity didn’t score, but JV got six points on the board and only lost by seven points. The team did get a win at home on September 9th against Hamilton.
In the same interview, Seabrook was asked how the season was going so far, “ We won our first [home] game last night, and two weeks ago we won the Jamboree, which is a combination of different games….the [true testament] is how the girls are improving each game”.
What Is To Come
The majority of the team members are pretty young with many of them being freshmen and sophomores. This is important for developing a strong program that will grow with the girls. The JV team has this opportunity to build chemistry with one another which is a must if they want to be successful in the future.
Varsity will be losing their quarterback, Bayley Stanley after this year, but there is someone who can fill her shoes, Drew Bahm. Drew is a junior who is the starting quarterback on the JV team but swings for varsity. She is also one of the captains and has led the team well despite the losses.
Another position that will need to be replaced for next season is linebacker. Right now, the linebackers are seniors Berlyn Engesser and Ella Johnson. There are two young linebackers who can step up: sophomore Chloe Wilson and freshman Lilah Hall. It’s more likely that Wilson will secure a spot as a linebacker because she is older, but Hall will be valuable throughout the next four years.
Seabrook was asked about his hopes for this program going in the future: “ For me, it’s about sustainability, not letting things [be] a flash in the pan because they are hot or cool in the moment. To have this be around for [years to come].
The girl’s season is nearing the end with the playoffs and the state championship being in early October. Because the season is shorter than some other fall sports, they only have four more guaranteed games. The last four games are all at home, which will be nice for the players to have their family and friends in the stands supporting them.
When asked about their goals for the remainder of the season, the team’s response was unanimous: win the state championship. Having the goal of winning the state championship is daring, but it’s the confidence the team needs if they want to succeed.
