Girls flag football debuts as IHSA sport this fall. Local players got tips at Chicago Bears clinic

Chloe Casey is an incoming freshman at McHenry High School. She also had her first week of flag football camp this week.

Casey has played on basketball and softball teams and ran track in middle school. But she’s never tried flag football.

“I honestly love it,” she said of flag football. “I’ve never tried it before.”

[ Photos: Bears hold girls flag football camp at McHenry  ]

On Wednesday, Casey was among a group of girls from McHenry High and a few other nearby schools who participated in a flag football camp with the Chicago Bears at McHenry’s McCracken Field.

This fall will be the first for girls flag football as a sport sanctioned by the Illinois High School Association, something the Bears organization has backed.

After having been at camp, meeting new people and trying new things, “it makes me more excited” to play sports in high school, said Casey, who got to try her hand at wide receiver. She’s looking forward to playing the sport this fall.

Jacqueline Huff, a senior at McHenry this fall, said she was a quiet, artsy kid in middle school, but she’s been doing powerlifting the past few years. She’ll be participating in flag football this year – her one opportunity before graduation – and is looking forward to “hopefully winning a majority of our games.”

She said she was interested in the sport in the spring. She’s been playing center in camp but doesn’t have a position picked out.

“It’s super-duper fun,” she said.

In the Fox Valley Conference, McHenry is one of four teams to offer the sport this fall, the other three being Jacobs, Hampshire and Dundee-Crown, all in Algonquin-based District 300.

Harvard High School might add the sport next year. Athletic director Barry Gurvey said Wednesday that it is his goal to do so. Gurvey said there’s a lot of interest at Harvard, but the sport would need to be approved.

“It’s just exploding [in popularity] the last few years,” Gurvey said.

Dennis Hutchinson, the McHenry coach, previously coached varsity tackle football at McHenry and Richmond-Burton. He’ll be returning to the field this fall to coach girls flag football.

“We’re going to coach it” like boys tackle football, Hutchinson said. Athletes will be learning routes, techniques and other concepts of the game.

This summer, the team had two weeks of camp, and practices begin Aug. 12. Games will start the week of Aug. 26, Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said he wasn’t sure yet, but “there may be Friday night games to open” the season.

There won’t be any cuts to flag football this year, and Hutchinson noted the popularity of powderpuff football during homecoming week. With the interest and support for powderpuff, “this was a no-brainer,” he said.

Wednesday, the second to last day of camp, featured a clinic from the Chicago Bears. The Bears have worked on getting flag football going in Illinois the past several years.

A handful of spectators watched the camp. Among them was Nicole Powers, whose daughter Abriel, a McHenry junior this fall, will be playing flag football. Powers said her daughter asked her to come watch Wednesday.

Powers said her daughter brought home the ball the other day and was working on throwing. Abriel also plays golf, and Powers said her daughter got approval to participate in both golf and flag football this fall.

“It’ll be a lot, but it’ll be exciting,” Powers said.

Hutchinson said 57 athletes participated in the Bears clinic Wednesday, most from McHenry but some from the District 300 schools. Among them was incoming junior Carly Uehlien, who’s hoping to be the quarterback for Jacobs this year but said she’s open to any position. Her background includes competing in throwing events for track and field.

“It’s really fun meeting new people,” Uehlien said, adding that she got an email from the school about the program and “signed up right away.”

At camp Wednesday, Uehlien learned a variety of footwork and hip swivel skills. She also hopes to be a leader on the Jacobs team this fall.

“I’m looking forward to building a strong team,” she said.

As for the Bears and their coaching staff, “I think their positive attitude was awesome,” Uehlien said.

After the clinic Wednesday, Hutchinson said the sport is giving girls an opportunity and that it’s an open, level playing field. Most of all, Hutchinson said, “they’re having a blast.”

“They get to make their mark on the sport, which is nice,” Hutchinson said.