Amanda Avvento would have been happy with the 32 girls who initially signed up for her first flag football clinic in Stroudsburg.
But just before the weekend event, the number jumped up to 63.
“My goal was 50,” she said. “I’m beyond blessed to have this platform…this is just a start to many more.”
Throughout the day on Saturday, girls ran flag football drills with coaches from professional women’s tackle football teams.
They worked on footwork, passing and receiving at the stations spread out around the field typically used by Pocono Spartans Elite, a travel football club for any player, regardless of weight.
Football Director Anthony Walker called Saturday’s clinic the first step toward creating a competitive girl's flag football team in the Poconos.
“Let it be known that Pocono Spartans Elite will be the first out here to make a competitive, travel girl's flag football team and get them ready for high school,” he said.
The Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Athletics Association is in the process of sanctioning girls flag football as a high school sport. They list 62 schools participating in the sport for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years, but none of those are in the Northeast Pennsylvania region.
And, men's and women's flag football will debut as an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles.
“So we have to get it started now, especially for our girls in the Pocono area,” Walker said. “We want to try to help with the movement.”
Avvento played tackle football for 11 years, starting in Philadelphia and ending up in New Jersey. She hopes to see the region embrace flag football to grow athletic opportunities for girls and women.
“I was told so many times that girls don’t belong in football,” she said. “I disagree because women are powerful and they’re very inspiring.”
To find coaches for the clinic, Avvento called on friends from women’s tackle football teams like the New York Wolves and the Washington Prodigy.
Lexie Floor, a Washington Prodigy player and former member of Team U.S.A. flag football, ran passing and receiving drills throughout the day. She said flag football is “going to blow up,” and she relished the opportunity to bring the game to girls in the Pocono region.
“I think this is the beginning of a really great thing,” she said. “That’s why I wanted to be here, to help trailblaze and be a part of their journey.”
Mattique Jones, a running back and outside linebacker with the New York Wolves, hoped to be an example for the girls learning something new at Saturday’s clinic.
“I would love for the girls to see this is something that you can take as far as professional women’s football,” she said. “You can start here, start at your clinics, just like a lot of us did. Start at your high school and you can take this far, all you have to do is learn the skills.”
Walker plans to start a girl’s flag football team within Pocono Spartans Elite, and hopes that will push high schools around the region to consider flag football as a school sport.
Nandi Brown, cornerback with the New York Wolves, says flag football is the future of the sport.
“It’s reaching out to all different age groups, it’s entering high schools and it’s entering middle schools,” she said. “It’s great to see that it’s evolving so much and catching a lot of attention.”
For 11-year-old Jenesis Smith of Stroudsburg, flag football will give her an opportunity to continue playing the sport. She’s played tackle football before, but decided to give flag football a try on Saturday.
“I like competing and I like tackling people,” she said. “With flag I like the same thing, minus the tackling.”
