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On September 29, 2022, CIF Southern Section voted to add girls’ flag football as a competitive sport for the 2023-2024 school year—in January 2023 the CIF State Office approved the sport for all of California. A great moment indeed! I’ve watched our Middle School teams enjoy flag football for over a decade and was thrilled for the opportunity for CIF girls’ high school flag football to come to fruition. There was no hesitation, the Tigers must field a team! 

And so, we did! How could a girls’ school not jump at this unique opportunity? But to find later that Westridge was the only school in the greater Pasadena area and the only girls’ school in the greater Los Angeles area to field a team, was sort of incredible to me—in not such a good way.

There’s a side of this story that warrants reflection and it is about the long and often fitful evolution of women’s sports in the U.S. Throughout my lifetime I have been both inspired and perplexed as to which sports women have had access. In the late 1960s society supported the more genteel sports (badminton, tennis, golf) as they were thought to be appropriate for women’s health. In basketball, girls were only allowed to compete in half court 6 on 6 games in which just one player (the rover) per team was allowed to run the entire distance of the court.

When Title IX passed 1972, affording girls’ equal access to sports in educational settings, it was met with both jubilation and anger at the toppling of societal standards for some. How could girls be competitive, aggressive, physically strong, and have the necessary skills to play all the sports? Seeing women as strong competitors was not something easily embraced. Athletes who were competitive were often seen as outcasts as they were described as not being “feminine.”  

While many doors opened, push back continued in places. For example, although 5 on 5 basketball for women emerged in 1971, one of the strongest states to compete in women’s basketball, Iowa, continued to play the half-court game until 1984, when a mere 26 Iowa high schools switched to 5 on 5 in order to afford greater opportunities for their athletes who were considering playing in college.

The good news is history allowed the right thing to happen and opportunities expanded greatly for female athletes. For instance, in 1972 women were “allowed” for the first time to run marathons in the U.S. The Olympics were a different story—the first Olympic women’s marathon event took place in Los Angeles in 1984, and with a connection to Westridge! In the ’80s, Westridge alumna Dr. Joan Lamb Ullyot ’57 was a key figure in lobbying the International Olympic Committee to include the women’s marathon event. In fact, it was her research on the ability of women to run long distances that helped convince the commission. Ullyot’s book “Women’s Running” was one of the first-ever books on the subject that argued against dated thinking such as women should not run long distances because their bodies were not built for it and that running might hurt their reproductive organs.

So yes, Title IX opened up great opportunities, and yet, women were still not playing all sports, which brings me back to football.

I have to wonder if there’s something to the final frontier of women competing in the male dominated world of football that puts brakes on this opportunity for so many schools. Since the Rams and Chargers have poured money into flag football for girls and encouraged CIF to offer the sport, isn’t that a good thing? There have been comments that the impetus by these organizations has more to do with increasing spectators for the NFL than affording opportunities for high school athletes. But I say, so what?  

At the end of the day the Tigers got to play football—and they did us proud! Learning the game from the ground up, adjusting to limiting high school rules, and being the bellwethers of Pasadena, this team came on strong.  Student-athlete and team member Ella B. ’25 stated, “Playing on Westridge’s inaugural flag football team was thrilling as every time we stepped on the field, we were making history. Our team worked hard, and our improvements were evident. After every win, loss, or tie, our team left the field knowing we tried our best and wanting to come back stronger. We made an environment for ourselves where having fun and winning were equally as important, and there was never a day on the field where I was not laughing.” And, from player Sofia A. ’27, “It was amazing to be on the first Westridge flag football team. I enjoyed making a change by showing that women can do anything men can do.”

And, people noticed. The Quarterback’s Club of Pasadena invited a girls’ team for the first time to attend their luncheon. Head coach, math teacher, and yearbook coordinator Dan Calmeyer, our quarterbacks Abby W. ’27 and Ari E. ’25 and I not only enjoyed sharing our story but also appreciated being recognized as a legitimate flag football program—yes, girls playing football—and, we had a seat at the table!  

I’ll end with an excerpt from an email I sent to the Fall Sports community:

Flag football ended their season defeating Vasquez 19-14 on Frank Field! First touchdown was Layla R. '27 from Ari E. '25! Extra point was Ella B. '25 from Abby W. '27! Abby also found Larkin M. '27! Fia A. '27 had an amazing interception! And both Layla and Mandy S. '26 had sacks! The Tigers had a remarkable come from behind finish scoring in the final 30 seconds!  Quarterback Abby W. '27 passed to Esperanza O.-C. '26 for the win! Coach Dan Calmeyer stated, "Extremely exciting to end the season with a last second victory. The whole season was a blast! We grew a ton as a team, and we're really excited to return the whole team as we don't have any seniors."

Yes, girls can play football.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Director of Athletics Melanie Horn has been part of Westridge athletics and academics in various capacities for more than 25 years. A former UCLA basketball player, Horn has firsthand experience with the Title IX battle for equity of opportunity and funding for women's sports in the early 1970s. She is an advocate for equal coverage of sports in the press and recently spoke in favor of more equitable rules in girls' football.