Wake County Public Schools introduced a new high school sport for the 2023–2024 school year: girls’ flag football.
Twenty schools participated in the inaugural season, including teams from Holly Springs High School, Fuquay-Varina High School, and Willow Spring High School, totaling nearly 500 student athletes overall.
A grant from the Carolina Panthers helped get the sport up and running, providing money for uniforms, equipment, and coaches’ training.
Willow Spring Flag Football head coach Michael Macaluso knew early on he had a special group.
“At the interest meeting, I knew we were going to be good,” says Macaluso, who saw a room filled with outstanding athletes from other Willow Spring sports teams, namely soccer and lacrosse. “Expectations were high from the start.”
“All of us do sports, but flag football was the first time we could all be athletes together and try something together that we didn’t know anything about,” says Caroline Plummer, defensive specialist.
“This was the first (sport) that no one had ever tried. It was interesting to see all the new skills that we had to figure out that we had never done before,” adds Zoe Little.
Plummer and Little are among the 19 girls — none with prior football experience — on the Willow Spring team, led by Macaluso (Coach Mac) and assistant coach Lathan Harris-Johnson (Coach LA).
“I was hesitant to take the coaching role at first. I didn’t know how I would handle trying to coach girls,” admits Macaluso, also an assistant coach on the varsity football team.
But Macaluso noticed the girls picked up the sport quickly, building on their existing athletic foundations and learning technique, positioning, and trick plays with ease.
“He treated it like a real sport. We had fun, but wanted to win,” says Payton Whitney.
“Coach always tried to do whatever he could to help us win. We were going to win or we were going to die trying,” says Laken Wright, the team’s offensive MVP for the season.
Tournament-style league play was held on Saturdays in January and February, with three or four games in one day, hosted at various Wake County school campuses.
“It was rewarding winning on Saturdays, to sit back and watch the girls do their thing,” says Macaluso.
Despite the early mornings — team warmups often began by 7 a.m — the players enjoyed the day of competing together.
“I really liked that we wanted to leave it all on the field,” says Wright.
#1 Caroline Plummer
#2 Allyssa Whitney
#3 Lilah Nathison
#4 Reece Ireland
#5 Zariyah Person
#6 Gabby Rocha
#7 Laken Wright
#8 Celine Aoun
#9 Jazlyn Moody
#10 Payton Whitney
#11 Mya Locklear
#12 Deija Reed
#13 Emerson Leigh
#14 Addison Meeks
#16 Charday Clay
#18 Jessica Karlowicz
#20 Reagan Genske
#21 Zoe Little
#22 Lily Ehlers
“We all had a certain passion and competitiveness for the sport,” says Deija Reed, recipient of the team’s Storm Award. “It was a really good experience.”
The Willow Spring Storm finished fourth overall, with a record of 6-2, but the players are quick to note that they beat the league’s ultimate champion, Wakefield, early in the season (Wakefield’s only loss all season).
Watch out, Wake County: All of the Storm players intend to return next year; there were no graduating seniors.
“It was a really good opportunity. I’ve always thought about playing football. It looked so fun,” says Jazlyn Moody.
“The season was a surprise for everyone,” says Macaluso. “No one expected it to be so popular.”
Editor’s Note: At time of publication, the future of flag football in Wake Couny is uncertain, due to limited funding allocated in the 2024–2025 school budget. Contact the Wake County school board to express your support for this program.
