As NDB kicks off its second season of flag football, the excitement and momentum for this rapidly growing sport are apparent.
The inaugural year saw enthusiastic participation from athletes, tough competitions and an overall positive response from the community. This strong foundation has paved the way for hopefully an even more successful second season.
This year, there is an almost entirely new coaching staff for flag football with Will Evans and Dave Rathbun joining the team alongside Aubrie Businger, who helped out as assistant coach last season.
This has been an exciting transition for all those involved with the program as the coaches and athletes work together to strengthen their abilities and boost the success of the team.
The group was hard at work before school and tryouts had even begun, with many members attending a five day clinic hosted by the coaches over the summer. The clinic was held from Aug. 5-9 and was a great way for new and returning players to learn the fundamentals of the game, work on technique and get adjusted to the new style of coaching.
One of the major changes of the program is the addition of a junior varsity team. Because of the high turnout at tryouts with over 70 girls hoping to make the roster, this extension of the program was necessary.
“It’s a great way to have more participants play flag football as a newer sport,” said senior team member Hailey Kockos. “I love that it lets more girls try out and play a sport at NDB.”
So far, having two separate teams has been a great success as it allows the groups to scrimmage against each other during practices in order to prepare for their upcoming games.
Additionally, with the teams being split up, every player gets more training during practices and gets more playing time at competitions.
Having played a number of tough games against various other schools in the area so far, the Tigers are looking forward to continuing to battle for the remainder of their matches.
They started off the season with a scrimmage at Menlo on Tuesday, Aug. 27, and then played at Carlmont HS the next day.
“I think they were really good, honestly. [It was] kind of a glimpse of what we’re gonna see the rest of the season and what we can build on to get better throughout the rest of the season,” said Businger. “I think they were honestly a great opportunity for us to go out and compete against some good teams and learn our weaknesses and see our strengths, too!”
The varsity team next played a close game against Presentation HS on Monday, Sept. 9, but fell short by just one point. Then, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, varsity went up against University HS, ultimately losing again by a point. Finally, on Wednesday, Sept. 18, they competed against Notre Dame San Jose, and both teams were defeated.
The Tigers are continuing to develop their skills and learn to work together as they continue on through the rest of the season until their final matches during the first week of November.