On September 11, Georgia Sackrey ’23, Fife McCargo ’23, and Tenley Elvekrog ’23 hosted Deerfield Academy’s first all-female identifying flag football game in the Field House.
Noting the male dominance of most of Deerfield’s sports tournaments, Sackrey said, “There’s almost an unspoken rule that [Deerfield sports tournaments] are more of a guys-only activity that nobody really talks about. As someone who really enjoys sports as a female, I wanted to create an environment where girls were encouraged to genuinely participate – making an impact on the game, instead of just being on a team to fulfill a certain [gender] requirement.”
Elvekrog continued, “The fact that, in this tournament, it’s girls playing and other people coming to support was a big thing. We wanted people to come out, cheer and support.” Elvekrog elaborated, sharing that even though there is a league, it isn’t very normalized for girls to play a sport like football, so choosing to play flag football was, in itself, breaking a lot of stereotypes.
Those who signed up were placed on teams with people from varying grades and experience levels. The preparations started the night prior when teams got together at 8:00 pm and learned how to play the game and the rules that come with it. Teams spent time practicing drills and got to know each other as well as their team managers. Each group was managed by an athlete from Deerfield’s Boys’ Varsity Football Team.
One of the team coaches, Chigozie Oge-Evans ’23, remarked, “All of the girls were quick to grasp onto the plays and were really understanding, it was a really fun event. I had a strong team that worked together to get to the finals.”
From the colorful tutus to face paint, it was clear that there was much team spirit present, making the environment fun for both players and spectators. Offensive center Izzy Ramirez ’25 said, “I thought it was a nice event because some of the other tournaments that we have are pretty nerve-wracking, and since this one was just girls, it felt more relaxed and fun.” Izzy expresses how it was fun to be in a competitive setting without the pressure. This allowed a lot of people to really get into the game and immerse themselves in it without judgment.
Sackrey observed, “I think it went very well once people got really into it. With these kinds of tournaments, if enough people buy in, then you can really make anything fun. Even if it was rainy and a Sunday, I think we had a big enough group of people that were really involved which made it exciting.”
During all of the excitement, wrestling captain, Sophia Burke ’23, said, “Overall, I think the tournament was fun and I loved how into it the other girls were. As someone who is a captain of a team that would predominantly be made of men, I think it’s really great that we have avenues like this for girls to play football.” Burke unfortunately ended up with a torn ACL after the tournament. She explained what happened, saying that, “My team had made it past the first quarter of the game and at that point, I was running backwards to stop a girl who looked like she was going to catch the ball. We were both looking at the ball which led to a collision.” A true team player, Burke was happy with the event and all that it stood for.
During school meeting on September 14, Sackrey, McCargo, and Elvekrog were all recognized for their notable leadership skills where they were acknowledged for bringing people together as well as for the amount of work they put in order for the event to be a success with an amazing turn out. The success of this event suggests a lot of change in the future of girls recreational sports at Deerfield. Whether it be later this year or even next year, there definitely will be more all girls tournaments, hopefully minus the ACL tear!