Momentum continues to build behind efforts to make high school girls’ flag football an official University Interscholastic League sport in Texas as El Paso teams returned from the inaugural state championship tournament with some of the city’s strongest performances to date.
Eastwood High School finished runner-up in the Houston Texans bracket while El Dorado High School advanced to the final four of the Dallas Cowboys bracket during the first Texas girls flag football state championship June 13-14 at the University of North Texas in Denton. The competition was backed by the National Football League’s Texas franchises.
The tournament came days after the UIL Legislative Council considered sanctioning girls flag football as an official high school sport but stopped short of taking action. Instead, council members directed UIL staff to develop an implementation plan and conduct a survey before bringing the issue back for further consideration. The council meets again in October.
For players and coaches in El Paso, the state tournament and the UIL’s continued review represent signs that a sport that barely existed locally a few years ago is gaining traction — both on the field and among the officials who could eventually make it part of Texas high school athletics.
Making a statement at state
Eastwood and El Dorado earned their spots in the inaugural state tournament after qualifying through the Region 19 championship, which took place May 18-20 at the Socorro Independent School District Student Activities Complex. The Troopers and Aztecs then traveled to Denton to face teams from some of Texas’ largest metropolitan areas.
Eastwood advanced to the championship game in their bracket before falling 19-6 to Houston Memorial High School, finishing as the tournament runner-up. El Dorado reached the final four of the Dallas Cowboys bracket before a 24-0 loss to Rockwall-Heath High School. Rockwall-Heath eventually won the state championship.
For Eastwood senior Mariana Macias, the tournament changed the team’s perspective on how it measured up against the state’s top programs.
“I feel like we genuinely could have gone all the way,” Macias said. “I feel like we didn’t know how good we really were until we got there.”
El Dorado coach Matthew Berroteran said the tournament validated what local coaches already believed about the caliber of football being played in El Paso.
“The competition was incredible,” Berroteran said. “It just kind of goes to show El Paso can compete with the girls out there.”
Growing the game
The tournament’s impact is already extending beyond the players who traveled to Denton.
Eastwood coach Jaime Hernandez said the school will host its first girls flag football youth camp this month for girls ages 8 through incoming freshmen. He hopes current players will help introduce younger athletes to the sport.
“I think it’s important for younger girls to see our girls in it,” Hernandez said.
Players have noticed the growing interest as well.
“I know that this year a lot of girls got inspired by how well El Paso teams are doing, and I know a lot of the upcoming freshmen are gonna do great,” Eastwood senior Angelyah Galford said.
Berroteran said interest is growing at El Dorado, too. He recalled an incoming freshman recently telling him she already planned to play flag football in high school and had begun looking for information about the program.
“It’s only going to get more exciting, and we’re excited for it,” Berroteran said.
The UIL’s next step
Prior to the state tournament, the UIL Legislative Council heard testimony June 10 from school leaders and NFL representatives urging the organization to sanction girls flag football as an official high school sport.
Supporters told council members the sport continues to attract new participants across Texas while providing additional athletic opportunities for girls. School leaders also argued that most districts already have the facilities, equipment and coaching expertise needed to support flag football programs.
“At the Houston Texans, we know football changes lives and we’ve been championing girls flag since 2023,” said Hannah McNair, chief community officer and vice president of the Houston Texans Foundation. “I’m humbly urging you to vote today to sanction girls flag because the time is now, the field is hers and let’s make Texas next.”
Nikisha Durham, athletic director for the Waller Independent School District, told council members the district’s first season of girls flag football aligned with its goal of providing students additional opportunities to participate in school activities.
Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District Superintendent Douglas Killian said adding the sport would require relatively little additional investment from school districts.
“We already have the facilities in most school districts in the state. We already have the expertise in football. We already have the equipment,” Killian said.
Rather than voting on sanctioning, the council directed UIL staff to prepare an implementation plan and conduct a survey before bringing the issue back for further consideration at a future meeting.
If approved, sanctioning would likely not take effect until the 2027-28 school year. In the meantime, the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys are expected to continue sponsoring leagues and championship tournaments that allow high schools across Texas, including Eastwood and El Dorado, to compete.
A UIL spokesperson previously told El Paso Matters that the organization is following the continued growth of flag football throughout the state.
For local coaches, the waiting game has not slowed the sport’s momentum.
“As soon as UIL gets it approved it’s only going to get bigger,” Berroteran said.
Michelle James Thorpe, a senior journalism student at the University of Texas at Austin, is a contributing writer for El Paso Matters as part of a writing course this semester.
The post El Paso’s success reflects girls flag football’s march toward UIL sanctioning appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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