- Chandler Unified School District
- News Updates
Chandler Unified introduces girls flag football league in partnership with Nike and NFL
During a special ceremony on Thursday, September 1, Nike, and the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals made a generous donation in support of Chandler Unified School District’s girls flag football teams. The donation was specifically earmarked for female sports equipment to increase access and participation in the program. The ceremony included a CUSD (Chandler Unified School District) All-Star game with girls flag football athletes from all six high schools in the district. Hamilton, Basha, and Arizona College Prep played on one team wearing black jerseys. Perry, Casteel, and Chandler High played on the other team wearing white jerseys. The Cardinals and Nike provided the uniforms, signage, and giveaways for the game.
“We had so much talent coming from our other sports, then I saw other schools. It was eye-opening and exciting because I can experience this with my friends while having fun and competing. That is what I look for,” Hamilton quarterback and junior Catarina “CC” Maccagnano said before the game.
In the 2021-2022 school year, girls flag football emerged in Chandler Unified as the first of its kind in the Valley. CUSD teams competed against each other in Spring 2022 as club leagues, which required them to find their own funds to book buses for travel. In late April, Hamilton won the first girls flag football championship.
Hamilton High School girls flag football head coach Matt Stone was instrumental in bringing a female flag football program to fruition. "We tried to figure out a way that we can best put girls flag football out there in a positive way that was a legitimate opportunity for girls to compete in the sport,” said Shawn Rustad, Director of Secondary Athletics and Auxiliary Programs. “So, we set it up in a fashion that it was like any other sport under the club status so we can prove to the district and to the state that this model can work and that hopefully the state would adopt it after seeing it as a sanctioned sport in the Arizona Interscholastic Association,” Rustad said.
Girls flag football is not yet a sanctioned sport by the Arizona Interscholastic Association. However, as interest continues to be gauged, there are plans for the sport to become sanctioned sometime during the 23-24 school year as other districts begin developing their own flag football programs.
During Thursday’s ceremonial event, Arizona Cardinals cheerleaders, the Cards mascot Big Red, and owner Michael J. Bidwill’s sister Nicole Bidwill presented a donation check to CUSD, and Cardinals linebacker Markus Golden completed the coin toss with the athletes.
“It’s so exciting for our team, and we’re happy to be here to support it and raise awareness and raise credibility for it,” Bidwill said. “These young ladies are phenomenal athletes playing a game they love, and it’s especially close to my heart because I am the only daughter in a family raised around a football team.”
The next CUSD girls flag football club season will begin in the spring of 2023.
Interested in learning more about our schools and athletic programs? Check out cusd80.com/schools and cusd80.com/athletics.