Falcons aid in growth of areas flag football programs
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The sport you can now find in the Olympic Games is one you don’t have to look far to find in Georgia.
Thanks to the Atlanta Falcons and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, 304 Georgia high schools received grants to either create a new girls flag football program, or help existing programs for the 2025 season.
Statewide, there will be 45 new programs starting this fall, with Washington-Wilkes being the newest addition to our local area.
“One of the reasons we had not applied in the past is because we would have to travel so far to play,” said Washington-Wilkes’ Athletic Director, Lisa Isham. “Now that there are so many Augusta schools participating, and then some even in our region and area, it cuts down on the travel time significantly.”
Isham says the school has already started working to appropriate its funds for equipment, staff, and more necessities ahead of the program’s first season.
The Tigers will likely have some competitive teams to go against in their first year.
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The Golden Hawks of Washington county made it to the state quarterfinals this past season, and they’ll likely play several schools in both Richmond County and Columbia County.
“We’re excited to get started and we’ve got some great female athletes who will hopefully help build something great here,” said Isham.
As mentioned earlier, not only are new programs taking shape across Georgia, existing programs are also getting their fair share.
Several of our teams like Lakeside and Evans applied for grant money, and each school was rewarded with $5,000 to cover any expenses ahead of this year’s season.
“I was able to get brand new stuff which helped me start the summer workouts already, which is huge,” said Evans head coach, Ryan Morningstar.
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“It’s really big because we try to employ as many coaches as we can,” said Lakeside head coach, Drew Shelton.
It was just five years ago that girls flag football was adopted by the Georgia High School Association as an official sport.
Since then, Columbia County and Richmond County have boomed with teams, and great success at that.
Greenbrier’s girls flag football team became the first Columbia County school to win a state championship back in 2023, which was followed up with a repeat title in 2024.
Evans and Lakeside, both made the GHSA Division 2 quarterfinals in 2024, with Evans advancing to the semifinals.
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