Ava Kareokowsky, an eleventh-grader at De La Salle High School, watched her two older brothers play football enough times to know that she wanted a chance to try the sport in some form in high school.

As a freshman, she wanted to start a flag football club for girls, and what she ended up doing exceeded her wildest expectations and those of her teammates.

De La Salle has a girls flag football team that will play South Anchorage, Alaska, in a game on Thursday at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. The game will be streamed live on the NFL’s YouTube channel and replayed on NFL Network on Saturday. All travel expenses are covered by Nike.

“I’ve never been anywhere else outside of this state except for Texas or Mississippi for a family vacation,” said Kareokowsky, a cheerleader whose older brothers – Holden and Hunter – played on the offensive line. “This is the farthest I’ve ever traveled. I’m really excited.”

De La Salle received an invitation to participate in the Nike Football Kickoff Classic after the Cavaliers compiled a 136-19 record and outscored their opponents 136-17 in eight games in a local girls flag league sponsored by the New Orleans Saints.

In the first year of the spring league, 10 schools from the New Orleans area participated. De La Salle claimed the championship with a triple-overtime semifinal win over Willow and a clean sheet against Academy of Our Lady in the title game.

The formation of the flag football team only came about after the Saints contacted several local schools to inquire about their interest in fielding a team.

“I always wanted to be on a flag football team and I think a lot of girls felt the same way,” says Kareokowsky, who immediately signed up for the team when she heard an announcement at school one morning.

Kareokowsky made her biggest play of the season when she darted between two blockers and snatched a flag from the Willow quarterback to secure the semifinal victory in three overtimes. She has 19 sacks.

Other key players include sophomore quarterback Tamia Cole and her twin sister Teyana Cole, a safety. Tamia has thrown 12 touchdown passes. Teyana has four interceptions. Both also play basketball.

Junior Caitlyn Vaughn is a leading player, scoring 13 points in the league championship, including an interception return touchdown, a 40-yard touchdown reception and a one-point conversion run.

Congratulations to Caitlyn Vaughn of De La Salle on being named @Saints Player of the Game at the High School Girls Flag Football Championship!

Caitlyn scored a key touchdown on the last play of the first half and had a pick 6 and 5 flag pulls on defense! pic.twitter.com/DPLDkCxB2R

— New Orleans Saints Community (@SaintsinComm) May 6, 2024

Senior Mariah Sanchez is a versatile player who committed to play softball at Bishop State. She once wanted to play tackle football when she saw an older girl in her neighborhood playing for a nearby park ball team, but her parents wouldn’t let her.

“I really enjoyed my experience,” she said of her time on the flag team. “It was kind of inspiring, just being able to make a ‘men’s sport’ a women’s sport. It was pretty cool.”

Coach George Neumiller, who has served as De La Salle’s softball coach for the past five seasons, has more than twenty years of flag play experience, much of that time spent with a local men’s team that traveled across the country for tournaments.

Neumiller, 50, coached his daughters Summer, 21, and Autumn, 18, when they played flag in elementary school. He tried unsuccessfully to start a local high school league while his daughters attended De La Salle. Summer began playing in a local adult league while still in high school.

“I learned the game from the guys I played with, so I basically pass it on to the girls and try to teach them how to play it properly,” said Neumiller, who coaches youth girls teams in the Kenner NFL Flag League. “The girls are more receptive. I think the guys are more likely to say, ‘I know what to do.'”

Among De La Salle’s other players, junior player Madison Rodgers – a basketball player and track and field athlete – is considered the fastest player on the team. Junior player Abria Frye is a four-sport athlete and also plays on the volleyball, basketball and track teams. Senior player Giana Miceli first played flag in elementary school.

Other members of the team include seniors Cori Davis, Kristen Robinson, Shayla Santos and Rae’l Simons, juniors A’nyja Johnson and Avonta Richardson, sophomore Alana Jeanmarie and freshman Kori Chambliss.

The National Federation of High Schools has listed flag football as “the next emerging sport” for girls. Nine states have approved flag football for girls, and several other states are running pilot programs to gauge interest.

State-sanctioned participation of high school girls in the flag dance has increased significantly in recent years, from 350 schools with about 11,000 participants in the 2017-18 school year to more than 900 schools with nearly 21,000 participants in the 2022-23 school year, according to NFHS data.

The LHSAA invited Saints representatives to a flag football presentation in May, but the organization cannot add girls flag football until after a statewide survey to gauge interest and a two-year pilot program.

Elicia Broussard Sheridan, the Saints’ vice president of public relations and youth sports development, expects the league to grow beyond the 10 schools that played last season.

Games are played with seven players on offense and seven on defense. The field is 80 yards long with 10-yard end zones. First downs are scored when teams cross the 20- and 40-yard lines. Touchdowns are worth six points. Teams score a one-point conversion from the 3 or two points from the 10.

South Anchorage has an experienced flag team. The Wolverines played a fall season last year and posted a record of 12-4 with nine shutouts on defense. Three of the four losses were to the same team.