Girls on the Gridiron

good teams need unanimity of purpose. members of the girls' flag football team from the anderson school, west prep academy and the computer school share unanimity of thought when it comes to their chosen sport. "it's awesome," more than a dozen of them yelled at a shrill decibel level when asked if they liked flag football last week. with 13 other middle school teams from across new york city, they were gathered at john f. kennedy high school in marble hill in the bronx for the "thanksgiving classic" tournament. the event was part of a new initiative launched by the nfl girls' flag football leadership program and the c.h.a.m.p.s. program to introduce the sport to middle schools in all five boroughs.

"we've had a boys' program for a while now," said tim rodgers, a physical education and health teacher from anderson and west prep, which share a building with the computer school on west 77th street. "previously, we incorporated the girls with the boys' teams. this year, we got the opportunity to start a girls' football program where they could really shine and show off their talents just among themselves. so far, it's been a blast. there's a lot of camaraderie. they love it. they love coming to practice and working out together." and everyone seemed to love playing in the tournament last week. they not only got a chance to compete but also received coaching from a bevy of professional football players, including two new york jets and six members of the new york sharks, a women's team. adrienne smith of the sharks and keith fitzhugh, a practice squad player for the jets, quickly got an intense scrimmage going after splitting up members of the team from p.s. 111 adolph s. ochs school into two groups. even with fitzhugh calling the plays, though, his offense stalled. the first pass was batted down, and the second glanced off the hands of a receiver running deep down the field. on third down, he dialed up a trick play: a handoff followed by a pass back to the quarterback, but the ball fell short. a hail mary on fourth down also failed as smith's defense celebrated. unfortunately, her offense had little more success, and fitzhugh got some redemption later in the day when he took over as quarterback for the anderson/computer/west prep team and tossed a deep touchdown pass. "the nfl is involved in giving girls a place to play football," said samantha rapaport, manager of the flag football leadership program. "we've identified areas of the country where we're trying to get girls' flag football into high schools and middle schools. we've got schools from all five boroughs participating. over 300 girls in the city are being introduced to the sport of flag football for the first time, which is very special for us. it's very interesting because these girls didn't know much previously about football, and now i can see them running around and playing."

the nfl and the jets helped out with more than just informal coaching and organization. the jets also presented a $50,000 donation to c.h.a.m.p.s. (cooperative, healthy, active, motivated and positive students), a sports program that provides after-school games and activities for middle schools around new york. "we provide an opportunity for middle school students to engage in physical activity," said ron gonzalez of c.h.a.m.p.s. "we do traditional activities like football, basketball and soccer. we also have some non-traditional activities like tai chi, martial arts and crew. the gist of the program is just getting kids moving in whatever it is they like to do." the "thanksgiving classic" was the second tournament of the season for girls' flag football. the final showcase will take place dec. 5 on randall's island. "this is the first time girls are able to play flag football legitimately in new york city schools," rapaport said. "there was some hesitation initially. i heard it not so much from the girls but from parents. but our coaches explained that it's non-contact and extremely popular among girls around the country. girls flock to the sport once you offer it. to have 300 girls in the first year is incredible." one of those girls, a 7th grader from anderson named selina lim, was waiting during the first game somewhat impatiently on the sidelines for her turn to get into the action. "i just like playing," she said. "you have to get really, really aggressive. everyone is very intense and into the game. you have to be alert. so it's hard, but it's fun at the same time."