As of December 2024, at least 24 colleges have welcomed the new addition of women’s flag football to their campuses. It all started in 2021 when the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) sanctioned women’s flag football to be a collegiate sport for the spring of 2021. To start out, only 15 NAIA colleges offered the sport; however, in the years to come, flag football grew tremendously and is offered in 14 states as a Varsity sport.
About a year ago, Ayala officially started its path towards welcoming flag football as a sport offered on campus. In the spring of 2024, Ayala participated in a league hosted by the Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) and only played the schools in our district (Chino, Don Lugo, and Chino Hills). As the season only lasted a month, the girls were eager to play more as it only took a short while to fall in love with the sport. That summer flag football hosted its first summer camp followed by tryouts where 80+ girls tried out for the junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity teams. Half of those girls were spread among the two teams and the girls selected would be considered the inaugural players for the sport of girls flag football at Ayala.
Ayala went on to have a record of 19-9 overall, and ranked 3-3 in the league. For their inaugural season, they ranked 360th nationally, and were 177th in California.
Nevaeh Lima (11) has been there since the very beginning. Starting out in the spring of 2024, Lima was put on the Varsity team and then later made it again in the fall. Before flag football, Lima was already an athlete, playing sports such as basketball and softball. However, once given the opportunity to play flag football, she immediately fell in love with the game and everything else fell into place.
“Truth is, I always hoped I would get to play softball in college,” Lima said. “I even joined Travel to try and reach that goal. Everything changed for me when I began playing football, I immediately fell in love with the game, my team, and my coaches introduced me to a whole new world.”
Today, Lima is one of the hardest working players on the team. She succeeds beyond the expectations of a high school player and trains on her own in order to improve her game. All of this determination and commitment landed her multiple college offers, which are some of the first to be introduced into the program. So far, she has been given offers to play at Neumann University in Pennsylvania, Cottey College in Missouri, and Hope International University in Fullerton, California. Many of these colleges are just beginning to have teams and with the rise of flag football across the states, it is extremely hard to land an offer, let alone be considered for a spot on the team.
“I’m grateful that these schools believe in me enough to give me the opportunity to play the sport I love,” Lima said. “Every offer is such a blessing and I’m so appreciative.”
An important part of being successful in flag football is having the ability to be a team player as the need to thrive in a team is detrimental. One of the main reasons why Lima is as talented and skilled as she is today is because of her ability to work within a team.
“She’s very uplifting, gets locked in fast, and she’s always cheering and talking,” Cameron Phua (10) said.
“One of my favorite moments with Nev is just cheering after making good plays and after the team getting a touchdown,” Skyler Bergeron (10) said.
As of now, Lima is one of only three people that have gotten offers to play in college and is the first of the junior class. She serves as a representation of what the program has to offer as well as what females in football are capable of.
“The advice I’d give to someone who wants to play at the collegiate level is stay focused, stay hungry, keep pushing, and work hard,” Lima said. “Another important thing is to believe in yourself and surround yourself with people who believe in you too.”
