The women’s flag football club has taken flight at SUNY Brockport. With 24 athletes, seven coaches and the upcoming move to the Empire 8 conference this team is ready to prove something.
Journalism and broadcasting major Kat Althouse saw the rise of flag football in Monroe Country in 2022. She realized women didn’t have many opportunities to keep playing in college— so she decided to make her own club team.
“I was like, it seems kind of silly it’s not a collegiate level sport yet because where are these high school girls playing going to go,” Althouse said. “They put all this time into playing and committing themselves to get better and investing themselves in something that isn’t even being continued at the next level. So, I was like you know I think it’s kind of obvious that we should just go and do it, because why not…I didn’t want to sit around and wait for it to become a thing when I left college.”
With the help of team secretary Cymbri Jefferson and many others, women’s flag football has become a growing program and will soon be a varsity sport in the Empire 8 conference.
“We were told it was going to be like three to four years before this could be a Dlll sport at Brockport, everything just fell into place so perfectly,” Jefferson said. “Me and Kat being able to be here and experience what we started is really cool. We started talking about it only a year ago I mean just seeing it all come to life in a year is pretty crazy. Now next semester we’re going to be varsity, it’s pretty surreal.”
To recruit athletes the team participates in Club Craze, an event held at the start of each semester to showcase clubs on campus.
“We have an interest list set out and people at our table to talk with any girls who are interested, sign up them up and then we go from there,” Althouse said. “I also started an Instagram for us and personally promoting it as well.”
Althouse hopes spreading the word and shining a light on this new program will continue to encourage the attention she believes women’s sports deserve.
“I’ve interviewed with four or five TV stations, and it’s been really overwhelming in the best way,” Althouse said. “It’s kind of emotional for me, because I’ve always been passionate about women’s sports, I work in sports media, and I’ve been a female athlete my whole life. So, I think getting such a spotlight on women’s sports and it being seen on TV, in newspapers and apart of athletics is a very empowering experience for sure.”
The team is building from the ground up, some athletes come in knowing the ins and outs of flag while others learn as they go. With a variety of experience on the team they are putting an emphasis on working as a collective to create a deeper understanding of the game.
“We play sevens, so we have been running inner squad scrimmages trying people in different spots and in the positions that they want to try,” Althouse said. “A lot of it has been learning as we’re doing. There’s only so much we can do if we sit down and explain the rules to them. It’s getting out on the field that’s teaching these girls.”
Each week the coaches and team leaders get together to compile practice/training plans. With the help of varsity strength and conditioning coach Bryonne Herring and athletes on the varsity Brockport football team, Jefferson thinks they have pushed training to the next level.
“We have classroom practices where we’re sitting down, one classroom for offense, one classroom for defense and they’re just shoving information in our heads making sure we understand plays, covers all of it,” Jefferson said. “They definitely help with taking things very seriously, because they’re passionate about it. We’re passionate about it. So, it’s just a really good mix.”
In addition to classroom practices and workouts from Herring, the team conditions every practice.
“We were not ready for the first one, not in shape,” Jefferson said. “Having these conditioning periods every practice has definitely helped us majorly. It just tells you who really wants it because it is hard and practices do get tough but at the end of the day, it’s who will show up the next day.”
The women’s flag football club played Cortland in their first scrimmage on March 1.
“We’re not going to be able to send all the girls to all the competitions because it would simply be too expensive. We’re going to use the scrimmage to put people in different positions and see how we play against another team. It’ll be our first time doing that, so that’ll be more of a learning experience,” Althouse said.
The team hopes to take what they learn from the scrimmage and apply it when competing at the Buffalo Bills Filed House for a two-day tournament. After they’ll be heading to Sahlen’s Sports Park in Elma, NY on March 23 to face off with Villa Maria before playing SUNY Geneseo on April 3, and the Staten Island Tournament April 12-13.
Although the club only came about in 2024 it will come to an end next fall semester when women’s flag football becomes a varsity collegiate sport. The Empire 8 is now the third Division lll conference to sponsor women’s flag football and has collaborated with NFL Flag, RCX Sports and the three New York NFL teams.
During the 2025-26 season Brockport will compete with Elmira College, Hartwick College, SUNY Geneseo and Russell Sage College for the championship title.
“This is a move in the right direction for women in sports. I know Kat could fully back me up on that, but there’s a lot of drive on our team. Everyone wants it. We all want to win,” Jefferson said.
As the women’ flag football program takes off Althouse can’t help but be thankful for the support on and off the field. This team believes the program is bigger than just sport, they see this as a chance for recognition, opportunity and appreciation for female athletes everywhere.
“Going into the E8 I mean I think for all women’s flag football programs we have something to prove, and a legacy to create,” Althouse said. I think all women who play football are strong women, so this is really going to be an empowering thing and we’re going to take advantage of it.”
