The school year is underway, with math homework, English papers, quizzes all coming back into students’ lives. Certain students get back into the swing of being student athletes again. One way that students manage all of that workload from school is athletics. Doing a sport can be a way for students to take their mind off of school work and allow them to have fun and get quality exercise.
Fall sports can be one of the most exciting times for high school students. Going to a Friday Night Lights football game is a great way to have fun by cheering along in a student section. Being in the stands at a swim meet and watching a close relay to end a meet is one of the most exciting events in all of sports.
But as of the 2023-2024 school year, a new sport has made its way onto the scene. Flag football has become a very popular sport at LHS. Flag football is in its second year being a sanctioned sport by the IHSA.
There can be questions about the logistics of how flag football
operates, as well as uncertainty about when the season takes place or how many kids are needed to properly have a team. The Athletic Director Mr. John Woods had sent out a survey to every girl listed in PowerSchool to see interest levels in flag football. Out of 109 respondents, 108 responded saying that they were very interested or all in for flag football.
“There might be some attrition based on experiences with starting new sports,” Mr Woods said. “In addition to starting up a new sport….you have to remember there are startup costs. So you have to get a coach or two. You have to get equipment, uniforms, [and] the jerseys were required the first year and helmets were optional.”
Woods hosted a flag football meeting where 37 kids attended and realized there were probably enough kids interested to get a varsity-level team started. The sport has continued to grow with the development of a JV team and a JV2 team to make sure more kids are able to participate in the sport. But beyond LHS, the sport has grown tremendously.
“In the state of Illinois, we have triple the
amount of teens this year than last year since the IHSA approved it,” Varsity Flag Football head coach Tiffany Rafiner said.
Coach Rafiner also noted that, despite Flag Football still being a cut sport, she still expects it to keep growing and become bigger than it already is. But, on the other hand, it’s very exciting for the girls to have lots of opportunities to showcase their abilities at a high level. As it is a different sport from boys, it allows the girls to have their own style of play.
“There are more people [who] want to do it in the community, and [there are] many more teams [who] are wanting to do it,” Libertyville Varsity starting quarterback Sophia Swanson said
There are still misconceptions that are being held regarding flag football.
“Girls are tough and athletic and gifted athletes,” Coach Rafiner said. “So it’s a matter of taking all of their abilities and melding it into the new sport.”
In the future, many at LHS hope to see flag football continue to grow in size and allow the sport to become non-cut, meaning more players are able to compete if they wish to do so. But for now the team is currently focused on this season.
“My goal is to win state…and we absolutely have the talent to do so,” Coach Rafiner said.
![Senior River Thompson joins the Jazz Ensemble by singing “That Old Black Magic” by Mercer and Arlen Arr. Mark Taylor, along with senior Annie Brody on guitar and junior Thomas Teixeira on bass, earning big applause. “[The concert had] great energy because it's the last [jazz concert] of the year,” Brody said.](https://www.lhsdoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Eight-That-Old-Black-Magic-1200x800.jpg)