This Saturday, the Chicago Bears and Bears Care will partner with Nike, Gatorade and Buffalo Wild Wings to host the first-ever “Chicago Bears Girls Flag State Championship” at Halas Hall. The tournament will consist of four games, featuring Taft High School and Kenwood Academy from the Chicago Public League, Guilford High School from Rockford and Willowbrook High School from the West Suburban League.
In 2021, for the first time in Illinois history, the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Public School system announced the creation of Chicago Public League Girls Flag Football League, featuring 22 teams with more than 400 girls participating. After a successful first-year season, the 2022 Illinois high school girls’ flag football program doubled the size of the Chicago Public League to 48 teams. In addition, the girls flag program also expanded to the Rockford area with six teams and the Western Suburban Conference with six schools.
The Bears goal is to make girls flag football a sanctioned sport in the Illinois High School Association. In order to achieve that goal, 10-percent of member IHSA schools must participate, which is approximately 80-90 schools. Over the last two years, 60 high school teams have registered and the Bears and are hopeful the continued growth will lead to becoming an IHSA sanctioned sport by 2024.
WHERE: Walter Payton Center at Halas Hall – 1920 Football Dr, Lake Forest, IL 60045
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 29, starting at 5 p.m.
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