Some MS Coast schools ready to add flag football, others concerned with timing
Flag football in Mississippi is nearing the end of its 12-team pilot season operated by the New Orleans Saints.
The eight-week season has been monitored closely by the schools involved and the Mississippi High School Activities Association and a particularly interested third group: the schools that did not field a team as part of the initial season.
The MHSAA is keen on growing the sport, and doing so quickly, if the environment is right. What isn’t lacking is the number of schools that were immediately interested when the MHSAA sent out a survey last fall. According to assistant director LeAnna Dawson, there were anywhere in between 90 and 130 schools across the state who were interested.
Dawson wants to see a robust lineup of schools joining the competition built year over year.
“My goal is within six years to have enough schools in each of the seven classifications to have seven state championships,” Dawson told the Sun Herald.
Dawson said she sees the upper classifications having their own championship games sooner rather than later and the lower classes being grouped together similar to how they are in soccer.
The sport’s expansion process begins with slowly decoupling from sole reliance on the Saints, who will still be involved in some manner for an indefinite period.
The National Federation of State High School Associations is expected to produce a unified rule book for the first time this summer and that will allow the state to train dedicated officials for an expanded field of teams.
The MHSAA received a $100,000 grant from the Saints to handle uniforms and still has plenty left to cover the costs of additional uniforms for more schools.
Several Coast schools pushing for a team
Though the MHSAA has not informed schools yet on guidance in the process to have flag football on next year’s calendar, the expectation is for the field to expand beyond the initial field of 12 ahead of next season.
Along with the schools on the Coast who have been a part of the pilot season — St. Martin, George County, East Central, Vancleave and Picayune — the Sun Herald has learned there are at least four others who are interested in offering the sport to their student body.
Chief among them is Biloxi High School, which pushed hard to be a part of Year 1 and was surprised it wasn’t included.
“As soon as I got the email I started checking around and had a couple of coaches that were interested in doing it, so we were definitely a go,” Biloxi athletic director Eddie Lofton said. “But it just didn’t happen.”
There were 20 to 30 finalists for the first season and Lofton assumed Biloxi was in good shape thanks to the school’s proximity to the Saints and the designated host sites.
Despite the snub, Lofton said the MHSAA has a partner whenever it’s ready to expand.
“We’ll definitely be doing it if the opportunity arises and there’s no doubt about it,” Lofton said. “You’d be shocked how many emails I’ve gotten from random students. They wanted to know why we weren’t doing it because they had the interest in doing it. I was like, ‘Well, we weren’t chosen.’ I don’t want y’all to think I’m holding us back. That’s not the case. So there’s a lot of interest there.”
Another school ready to jump on board right away was Gautier High School. The school board has a standing “yes” vote and is ready to hop into the mix whenever given the chance, according to athletic director Jonathan Story, though he did acknowledge the challenges that come with playing the sport in the spring.
“A lot of our young ladies were very interested in flag football,” Story said. “They do an annual powder puff game and this falls right in line with it. I’m not sure how that’s going to affect some of our spring sports participation as far as track and field, but everyone’s pretty excited about flag football. We are looking forward to participating.”
A potential aspect to the MHSAA’s expansion process could be the grouping of traditional rivals. The sport already has one in place with the inclusion of East Central and Vancleave.
It could build on the Coast rivalry appeal with a pair of schools that fit with teams already participating or ready to dive in: Pascagoula and Pearl River Central.
The latter is watching nearby rival Picayune participate in the first season after deciding to pass on the chance due to leadership changes and much-needed facility repairs. But athletic director John Feaster said he’s ready to toss his school’s hat in the ring.
“The only reasons we didn’t get involved this year is because, first, our facilities,” Feaster said. “Our field was not in the best condition. And I was the new AD so we had huge turnover. I think (flag football) is great and we definitely want to get involved going forward.”
On the other side of the Coast, Pascagoula is just as interested as its swamp mate Gautier in getting into the sport sooner rather than later, with athletic director Steven Engle citing the responses he got from the schools currently participating.
“We actually wanted to pilot it, but it was just at a bad time when they decided to come out with it so we declined the pilot,” Engle said. “I’ve been calling around and talking to athletic directors who have been involved with the pilot this spring to get their fill on it and they’re pretty excited about it. I think we’re going to try to make an implementation on it this coming school year.”
Coast schools concerned with timing and opportunity
The rapid arrival of flag football did not come without its concerns. Several schools have expressed hesitancy and a desire to see a change in how it operates before they’re ready to join.
The central issue causing hesitancy is the timing of the sport, as it’s currently locked into the spring season. Among the reasons for the this is the Saints, who are also operating the Louisiana league at the same time.
But the set up puts flag football in direct competition with track and field and softball. The conflict of opportunity is the primary reason Gulfport High School is being cautious about its approach.
“We’re interested, but my concern is that it’s going to draw some kids away from some sports where colleges offer scholarships and I’m just not aware of any colleges that are offering scholarships for flag football,” athletic director Matt Walters said. “I’ve got to analyze it and see what the right thing is for us. I’m all for kids having more opportunities, but I don’t want to offer something as an athletic department that’s going to take away some opportunities that kids have down the line.”
Walters has also been publicly critical of the MHSAA for not doing enough to discourage one-sport specialization and instead creating barriers for multi-sport athletes with too many overlapping sports.
“Seasons overlap so badly, when one team makes a playoff run, kids miss a third of their next season,” Walters said in a video posted to social media. “That’s not promoting multi-sport participation, that’s forcing choices. (The MHSAA) says it can’t be fixed. Funny, I’ve seen states where it is fixed. Make it happen.”
The crowded spring schedule is an even bigger barrier for smaller schools to clear.
Pass Christian passed on the sport out of fear it would slice the pie one too many ways for the number of students the school has.
“My initial response was no simply because it would have killed softball right now,” Pass Christian athletic director Ricky Smith said. “Two of our biggest sports are softball and track. We have a really good track team. My fear was if we did it right now, it would take away from those two programs and I didn’t want to do that just yet.”
Smith said he would like to see the sports calendar reshuffled, with flag football being played in the winter and soccer in the spring.
But as things currently stand, Smith believes it would be difficult to offer the new sport to his students.
“Being a 4A school is really tough, we have to share so many athletes,” Smith said. “I know some of the 7A teams and St. Martin and other teams did it this year, but I think their numbers are so big they can afford it. And I just don’t think we can right now.”
Mississippi’s inaugural flag football season will wrap with a one-day playoff on May 9.
