PUYALLUP, Wash. — Highlights, captured by her father and set to music, show Emerald Ridge High School junior Reece Nader crossing the goal line in a flag football game.
Another video captured her on stage at the NFL draft. Fair to say it’s been quite a year for both father and daughter.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime indescribable experience,” said Mike Nader, her father.
Yes, girls flag is popular but it’s also part of a nationwide push by the National Football League, specifically the Seahawks, to codify the game in schools as a sanctioned sport.
Those efforts did not reach the end zone Monday.
“It’s really disappointing because us girls were introduced to this incredible sport and we just get shut down,” Reece Nader said.
The amendment that would have added girls flag football to the list of sanctioned school sports was voted down by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), a 53-member body made up of district-level school administrators across Washington state.
The girls flag football amendment did not reach the 60% of votes required to pass.
One athletic director told KING 5 adding another sport is not feasible as schools look to tighten the belt on athletic budgets.
At least for now, that means no WIAA state championship for girls flag football. But the game goes on thanks to the efforts of people like Emerald Ridge High School athletic director Jesse Kase.
“We’ll run our own tournament and crown our own champion,” Kase said. “We in the Puyallup school district are going to run this sport. We’re going to have girls come out we’re going to create an opportunity our girls to participate in flag football.”
A game that’s so popular at this Puyallup high school that they were able to fill rosters across three teams.
“It’s just like, again, really disappointing because the guys get to do it, and here’s Tyler Lockett is on stage representing that this is going to be a girl’s thing," Reese Nader said. "And it’s like, 'why are we shut down?'"
They may not be a sanctioned sport, at least not yet, but that does not mean the girls will be sitting on the sidelines.
“Yeah, we’ve already got workouts planned at the end of May,” Mike Nader said.