Girls Encouraged to Play Flag Football

DIXON, CA (MPG) – A small group of
young athletes gathered the morning of Sept. 7 at Game Fit Dixon for the Girls
Flag Football Elite Team Training Camp, a skills evaluation session aimed at
developing competitive all-girls teams in the Yolo and Solano county areas.

Hosted at 6248 Silveyville Road, the
camp cost $60 and ran from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Sept. 7.

According to head coach Leslie
Lucero, the first step in building this foundation is through exposing more
young women to the sport.

“A lot of them have played softball,
basketball and volleyball but may not know much about flag football,” Lucero said.

The session opened with warm-up stretches and
explosive movement drills, including pogo hops, broad jumps and 40-yard dashes.
Coach Leslie Lucero used cones to track personal records and worked
individually with each athlete to make adjustments. Photo by Kendall Brown

Five athletes participated in the
evaluation session, led by Lucero, a certified sports performance trainer and
fascia stretch therapist with 15 years of experience.

Lucero trains athletes at Game Fit,
owned by Lemuel Adams and located on property owned by the Sievers family. The
session opened with warm-up stretches and explosive movement drills, including
pogo hops, broad jumps and 40-yard dashes. Lucero used cones to track personal
records and worked individually with each athlete to make adjustments. Lucero
encouraged and challenged these athletes to improve their overall performance.

“That’s alright. We get better every
time,” Lucero said during the broad jump drills.

Lucero emphasized fundamentals
throughout the session, particularly the importance of teaching proper running
and jumping mechanics at a young age.

“That’s why we do speed work with
the girls, really focusing on basic mechanics,” said Lucero. “The boys receive
that training early but many girls don’t get that until high school. If they
don’t learn how to run and jump correctly, they have a higher chance of injury
later in life.”

An hour into the evaluation, flags
and footballs were introduced. The girls practiced catching drills and ran
pulse routes, which involved sprinting straight and then cutting diagonally.
The camp ended with L-drills and scrimmage-style flag runs.

Lucero’s long-term goal is to form
10U, middle school and high school girls’ flag football teams to compete in
regional tournaments. The fall season is expected to begin with the Under the
Lights Tournament in Vacaville. With four children, three of whom are girls,
Lucero is excited to bring more opportunities to play flag football for young
girls throughout the county, especially as a female coach in a predominantly
male-dominated space.

“Youth sports teach a foundation of teamwork,
accountability and personal dedication,” Lucero said.

An hour into the evaluation, flags
and footballs were introduced. The girls practiced catching drills and ran
pulse routes, which involved sprinting straight and then cutting diagonally. Coach
Leslie Lucero worked directly with athletes to get their throwing arms warmed
up before the drills commenced Photo by Kendall Brown

One of the youngest participants,
Lucero’s 6-year-old daughter, Kawena Lucero, was excited to play. Notably, her
interest in flag football inspired Lucero to pursue this endeavor, as there
were no girls’ teams available for girls of Kawena’s age.

“I’m really excited to play,” Kawena
Lucero said.

For more information about the
program, visit lesmarieperformance.com or call 801-861-7674.