St. Pius X started a flag football team in the fall of 2022, and since then the program has grown enormously. Tryouts are extremely competitive, and a JV team was added in the fall of 2023.
First-year varsity head coach Ms. Molly Clavenna joined the program last year as the JV head coach.
“I was really excited that [last year’s head coach Andy Harlin] asked me to coach JV, because previously they just had one team,” she explained.
Coach Miranda Contreras didn’t wait for an invitation.
“Last year I kind of volunteered myself, which is beautiful, when tryouts were happening,” she said.
Coach Contreras knew nothing about the sport but saw it as a great opportunity to get involved with the students in a different way.
“My big thing is being engaged with all the women of the school,” she said. “When I heard that this sport was happening and having tryouts, I [was sure I would do it], I’ll be involved. So I went ahead and got involved with it. I ended up sticking around for it, and then became assistant coach of JV, and now I’m the head of JV.”
In her two years of coaching, she said the hardest part about making a team was how competitive it got.
“It’s so competitive, so many people want to be [on the team]. Probably the hardest part would be the cuts. It can only be so big. We have parameters,” she said.
In addition to having to cut girls for the team Coach Clavenna said she deals with the challenges of field space.
“We have limited field space, so the [football team] this year has been really helpful,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Coach Clevenna loves to watch the players’ personal growth after games.
“The girls after our games have to have some self-reflection, too,” she said. “I think that’s just been important to me, to encourage other people to think about what went well, what didn’t go well, and it’s been really cool to see people just evaluate their own performance and how they need to improve themselves. I think it’s been fun to see how supportive the girls are of one another.”
Coach Contreras thinks the community makes the team so special.
“Its just so fun and free to play. It’s a female sport and girls like community. That’s just what the feminine heart desires, and we want to play sports,” she said.
Coach Clavenna agreed.
“My favorite part of the community is the joy of the girls, the joy of getting ready to go to the games this week was a lot of fun,” she said.
The players also enjoy the opportunity to spend time with teammates.
“I love being able to hang out and bond with all the girls on the team,” said junior Liv Karstonas.
“I love that it gives women the chance to play a sport that is usually meant for guys. It is really empowering,” said junior Claudia Frank.
Players also noted the growth they expect in the program within the next five years.
“The first year there were less than 30 kids who tried out, but this year it was closer to 100,” said senior Madeline Tober, the only current player who has been on the team since is started.
Coach Clavenna is excited about the future of the program and said she’s hopeful of one day having a freshman and middle school team.
“I think we’ll see a lot of player development in the next couple years since flag football is an up-and-coming sport,” she said. “I think we’ll have more talented people coming in and wanting to maybe even go out for college.”
The team finished the year as region champions and advanced to the Elite 8 of the state playoffs, but the girls have their minds set on an even bigger season next year. In the words of Coach Contreras, “Hopefully we win a state championship soon!”
