Patriots host first highschool flag soccer championship event

Patriots

“Hopefully, after this year, moving forward, we can sanction this as an official high school sport in the state of Massachusetts.”

By Elli Einset

June 17, 2025 | 10:26 AM

4 minutes to read

The New England Patriots Foundation hosted its inaugural high school girls flag football championship tournament on June 12, inviting the top eight teams in the state to compete for the title.

Flag football is not recognized as an official sport by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, so organizations like the Patriots have established club leagues to help expand the sport. At the establishment of the association in 2023, there were eight teams. Now there are 51.

“These young ladies want to play the sport,” said Patriots former linebacker and executive director of community affairs Andre Tippett. “And it’s not just the guys that want to play tackle football. They want to play flag football … A lot of them have been playing since they were 5, 6, 7 years old. And they were limited when they got out of middle school and went into high school.”

There are youth flag football teams all across the state, but many of these athletes found themselves stuck when they began high school.

“I think the sport has had a huge following for a long time,” said Chris Lanning, the head coach of Peabody Veterans Memorial High School. “I think at the high school level, it was kind of an afterthought, and then when it started going, a lot of people said, ‘We can do this’ and the Patriots have been instrumental in getting it out in front of people, giving them the support they need, the infrastructure of their school. The state’s silly to not adopt this as a MI[AA] sport because it’s going to only keep growing. There’ll be 100 teams next year.”

The Patriots are part of the NFL Flag Football program, where both girls and boys are able to play.

“It’s great that it’s coming up to the Northeast because as a female in football, I didn’t have these opportunities,” said Jen Reale, one of the refs at the tournament. “So embracing these and giving girls a club sport, which hopefully turns into a MIAA varsity sport.”

Another referee at the tournament, Mike Fortino, spoke on the entertainment that it brings him while he officiates.

“It’s just great for the girls and it just shows you that they can compete as well as the boys,” said Fortino. “And they’ve got great football abilities as well. That’s really what this is about. It’s a celebration of them and their abilities. And it’s just so entertaining to watch. Like I’m not even reffing the last game or the last two games. I’m watching.”

This sport could bring many opportunities for these players, including playing at the collegiate level and even the international level. In 2028, flag football will be played in the Olympics for the first time and could stay part of the Games moving forward.

Despite this progress, only 15 states recognize it as a varsity level sport.

“Hopefully, after this year, moving forward, we can sanction this as an official high school sport in the state of Massachusetts,” said Tarrell Patterson, St. Mary’s head coach. “Right now, there are a number of universities offering full scholarships for flag [football] for women. And I wouldn’t be surprised the next three to five years, it’s every major NCAA, every major school across the country. And so I’m hoping the growth just continues.”

Currently, instead of being seen as a varsity sport, these teams are part of their school but are recognized as a club.

According to the MIAA handbook, the Rule Change Proposal process takes place every two years. However, an MIAA spokesperson wrote in an email that there has been discussion in changing this, specifically when considering adding a sport.

The teams in the June 12 tournament were Ayer-Shirley Regional High School, Boston Latin Academy, Greater Lowell Technical High School, Leominster High School, New Mission High School, Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, St. Mary’s High School and Westford Academy.

St. Mary’s claimed their second consecutive title, defeating Leominster 14-13. The rivalry between the schools has grown since they have faced each other for the past three years, with Leominster taking the first title and St. Mary’s taking the next two.

“This was a great game,” said Patterson. “And I’m just really proud of how these girls just really hung in there and fought to the end. But it feels great to win twice in a row.”

Kaleigh Patterson, one of the St. Mary’s players and Tarell Patterson’s daughter, said the team’s mentality when playing against Leominster is “to not pay attention to all the parents screaming and to not get overhyped. If we score, we have to pretend it’s not over. The game will never be over until the buzzer goes off.”

While the sport waits to be official in Massachusetts, there are ideas to keep expanding flag football in the Northeast.

“Let’s make it a six New England state championship,” said Tippett. “ … Let’s compete amongst the six New England states and see how we end up. And we can be the New England champions.”