A global movement. An awakening. Inevitable.

The Chicago Bears’ manager of youth and high school football, Gustavo Silva, used these words when describing the rise of girls flag football, which prepares for its second season as an official IHSA sport this fall.

With over 200 teams competing across the state of Illinois compared to 146 last year, the path to a state crown has never been tougher.

“You can see that the level of play has continued to progress and it’s just going to become a more competitive game,” Silva said. “With all the new schools coming on this year, we expect the competition to continue to progress forward. It’s going to be really something to be able to win a state championship here in 2025 because the teams across the state are getting that much better.”

Many coach

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