New game in the city: Girls Flag Football makes his debut in the Maui Interscholastic League: Maui Now

In Hawaii there are three weeks for the latest high school sport: Girls Flag Football.

On Maui, Kilikopela Kamake'e'āina is happy that High -School -Girl is now playing the sport she loves, as a kicker for the starting place last autumn for the Baldwin High School boys' football team.

“Flag football was my first sport,” she said. “I played it when I was about 3 years old. So it is very exciting to be able to play it again for my final year, last year the high school. “

The Hawai'i High School Athletic Association announced on August 1 that this spring it expanded flag football in girls in the plot.

The Maui Interscholastic League will set up nine teams: Baldwin, Maui High, Kamhameha Maui, King Kekaulike, Lahainaluna, Kūlanihākoʻi, Lānaʻi, Moloka'i and a combined team that includes MPAC with the players of St. Anthony, Halakalāf and Maui -China.

The games start on Saturday and will run on Fridays and Saturdays for five weeks on lawn fields in Lahainaluna, Kamhameha Maui and King Kekaulike.

More than 200 players are in the Mil squad and while many other sports play, there are very few experience in the game of Flag football.

While the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association distributed their rules for the 2025 season at the beginning of this month, the complete national rules for sport in May are announced by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

The game in Hawai'i is played in fields that are 80 meters long and 40 meters wide, although fields can be smaller based on the available space. This is somewhat smaller than the traditional football field of 120 meters and 53 meters wide.

Instead of 10 meters that have to be won for a first waste in the regulation of football, 20 meters are required in the flag when the field is 80 meters long. However, the first downward request can be adjusted for shorter fields if the space is limited. There is no contact in flag football, although random contacts are made for a flag on the belt that is worn by a ball carrier. If flags are pulled from the Velcro connection to the belts, a ball carrier is laid out.

And instead of 11 players on both sides of the ball like in the Tackle Football, there will be seven players on the field for each team.

The games consist of four 12-minute quarters with a running watch up to the last 2 minutes of each half. The music box begins on the snap, which stands for the 2-minute warning after stopping.

Mil teams will play a regular season with eight games, in which two games in one day per team are required in several cases. A MIL tournament will be played on April 19, in which the two best teams in the league rise to the State tournament on April 30 to May 3.

According to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, 58 schools will start teams in the opening season of the Flag football.

Kamake'e'āina was an outstanding role for the Bären soccer team that reached the State Tournament and hopes to use their knowledge of the play of the flag football for their advantage.

“It is mentally a step up because they have no physical contact and everything,” said Kamake'e'āina. “So you have to be harmful, skillful and know where you are.”

Maui High Junior Naiara Bal is an outstanding basketball player for the Sabres, who won the Mil title I Division I title for the first time since 1999.

“It is really fun, comes back, plays while I was young, and now tunnels are on,” said Bal. “It's really cool to finally be on the field and work with all these girls.”

The close girlfriend of Bals Enger Freund Lexi Kitagawa, a high -ranking volleyball player for the Sabres, said she was doing football exercises with her family and friends, but has never officially played the game of flag football.

“It is a good experience, new sport, definitely changing volleyball shoes is different … and I get used to it,” said Kitagawa.

King Kekaulike also has athletes all over the field, although less than a handful of a flag football experience.

Leiali'i Coyle is one of five football players for the King Kekaulike Flag team. She has never played the game before this opening season, but she sees a brilliant future for sport.

“As soon as the younger age comes to the high school, you can play flag football,” said Coyle. “It's a pretty cool sport – 100%, I have great fun with all the girls.”

Coyle said that playing football had helped her for 5 years with the skills of the flag game.

“While I was on the soccer field, I got more fancier, so it helps – so far I have not pulled flags in Flag football, so it really helped me,” said Coyle.

Tyson Valle, the football coach of the boss flag, said more than half of his team has high school sports, including football, basketball, softball, tennis and volleyball.

Valle is also the school's football coach in autumn. Half of King Kekaulike's football staff is currently training the Big Boy team of the school for middle school players, while the other half of the coaching staff trains the girls with Valle.

Valle noted that in practice he had more quarterback candidates for his girls' team than for the young team last autumn.

“There is no termination in these girls, none,” said Valle. “You work hard every day. Everything we do is new to you, so it's exciting. It's different. I am excited to see what you can do in the first game. “

The football coach of King Kekaulike veteran girl, Gundi Dancil, helps coach -Flag football. The former basketball coach of Lahainaluna girls, Todd Rickard and Iolani Kaniho, train the Lunas Flag team.

Valle has the biggest squad in the MIL with 44 girls. He said the biggest challenge is to teach them the basics of the game: down and distance, first down marker, 5 yards, 10 yards.

He said, “We are all new in the rules of flag football.” But he added: “You started it quickly.”

Dean Kramp is the head coach in Baldwin and also has five years of experience in the 'īao Intermediate School.

“It's not like normal football,” said Kramp.

Some examples of the Hawai'i flag rules are that blockers must have their arms and hands by their side or over their chest. Any use of hands, arms, elbows, legs or body to initiate contact during an offensive block is illegal. The defense is responsible for avoiding contact with a stationary blocker that must be inpatient for a distance of 2 meters in front of the defender.

Baldwin's Flag soccer team has about 30 players, some of whom will be in a development team.

“It's super fun, great,” said Kramp.

For Baldwin, Kamake'e'āina was a leader from the start, said Kramp. “She sent me an e -mail before the season even started. She asked when was before the season? “

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, 14 state associations approved the sport, another state is right about the sanctioning of sport in April and 18 countries in independent/pilot programs at any level.

The states that sanctioned the sport for girls include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association voted in April for the 15th state that sanctioned sport.

State associations with independent/pilot programs are Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Wasconsin.

In Kamehameha Maui, the football -Evalani Keawian and Myla Tuitele are among the leaders of the team of coach Ka'eo Ripanis. Keawian, a senior, has a football scholarship at Seattle University in autumn.

“Most girls in this team also play football, so I know everyone as friends of football,” said Keawian. “This is all new to all of us, so we all have to learn the skills, but we have the attitude of just having fun and growing and being okay to make mistakes.”

Keawian is fascinated that the flag football in 2028 is for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in Lockket.

“Many girls came out to try, so I only know how excited people are to see Flag football, and there were many people to see the training,” said Keawian. “Everyone at school is excited to look at our games.”

The Warriors won the Soccer title of Mil Division I, but were then removed from the state title contention in the quarter -finals.

“Our football season was too short in the States, so we all wanted someone else to play with the seniors before they graduated,” said Tuitele, a junior. “So we all decided to connect the Flag football.”