As participation in flag football rises across the state, Jericho High School’s team enters its first season.
“Day by day, we want to get better and keep growing the sport and keep growing our team,” said Peter O’Malley, the program’s coach.
O’Malley, an elementary orchestra teacher in the district, has coached boys’ varsity football for 10 years. He said when the school’s athletic director approached him about flag football after parents in the district pushed to start the program.
O’Malley said the school has been discussing starting the program for a little over a year. He said excitement for the sport has grown in recent years after it gained traction and recognition at the state level.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association named flag football an “emerging” sport in 2021, according to its website. Then, in 2022, the association named flag football a high school state championship sport, beginning in the 2024 season.
As the 2025 season kicks off, Jericho High School has thrown its hat in the ring.
“There’s a lot of excitement and a lot of buzz surrounding the program—surrounding the team—because it is brand new,” O’Malley said.
He said many of the girls on the team had already heard about flag football through friends at other districts and were ready to jump into the season.
“It’s a really exciting opportunity,” he said. “Not a lot of high school students, in general, really have an opportunity to start a program.”
O’Malley said the team started practicing on Monday, March 24. This season, the team is scheduled to compete in 16 games, facing neighboring school districts like Locust Valley, Roslyn, Bethpage, and Cold Spring Harbor.
O’Malley said the team is comprised of 21 ninth—through twelfth-grade students. He said while some of the girls transferred in from other sports, like softball, lacrosse, and track, others are trying out the athletic programs’ offerings for the first time.
“We’re all excited and we’re all getting better, day by day,” he said.
O’Malley said the team “started from the basics,” learning how to line up, catch a football and take a hand-off. From there, the team has learned new plays and routes. O’Malley said the team will compete two to three times a week, which gives them the opportunity to improve each time.
“Every day, we’ve added some new stuff into our playbook,” he said.
He said the girls on this year’s team have the opportunity to “set the foundation for what that program is going to look like in five, ten, fifteen years from now.”
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