In just a few short years, high school girls flag football has grown from a handful of teams in one county to some 265 throughout the entire state — and now thanks to the Atlanta Falcons, it’s going to be offered at the middle school level, including Henry County.
During the Henry County Girls Flag Football Jamboree this month at Union Grove High School, Atlanta Falcon’s offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom — along with some Falcons cheerleaders, mascot Freddie Falcon and other Falcons representatives — presented a $30,000 check to fund the first two years of middle school girls flag football in Henry County.
“Mr. Blank has done a phenomenal job,” Lindstrom said of Falcons owner Arthur Blank’s initiatives to establish and expand girls flag football throughout Georgia.
Lindstrom said he’s excited to see how the sport will grow and he’s “incredibly grateful” to make contributions to communities such as Henry County.
“One of the best things I’m fortunate enough to do here in Georgia is connecting with local communities,” he said.
Luella flag football coach Jaime Henck spoke briefly after the check presentation, thanking Lindstrom and the Falcons for the donation.
“I can’t wait,” she said in an interview. “It’s going to be great for the high schools to have this middle school program. It’s going to increase our numbers — I’m so glad we’re able to get this opportunity.”
She added that it’s hard to build a sport when the kids are starting to play in ninth grade so adding middle school flag football can only have a positive impact on the high school programs.
“I’m really looking forward to what we’re going to have here,” she said.
The growth of flag football has been phenomenal at Luella with 11 players in its first year to 43 players coming out for tryouts this spring, Henck said.
“It’s exploding all over — it’s in the entire state almost,” she said.
Credit: Toni Lee
Credit: Toni Lee
In 2018, the Falcons began a pilot program with 19 schools in Gwinnett County and in 2019, the Georgia High School Association added girls flag football as an official sport.
In 2023, three local teams made the GHSA Division 3 state playoffs in girls flag football — Locust Grove, Luella and McDonough.
The month’s jamboree featured Eagle’s Landing, Luella and Union Grove.
Credit: Henry Herald
Credit: Henry Herald
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