Lane Tech beat Phillips Sunday for the 2023 Illinois High School Girls’ Flag Football State Championship. The 9-team championship bracket was host by the Chicago Bears at its Walter Payton Center at Halas Hall. The Bears, who helped launch the girls flag football program in 2021, hosted the state championships for the second consecutive year in partnership with Gatorade, Buffalo Wild Wings, Nike and Visa.
“This is what we worked for,” Lane Tech head coach Caroline Schwartz told ChicagoBears.com. “Having 6 a.m. practice every day, it was all worth it.”
Nine teams from eight different leagues competed in the state tournament – Glenbrook South, Guilford, Lane Tech, Phillips, Proviso East, Resurrection College Prep, Stagg, Stevenson and 2022 state champ Willowbrook.
“It’s incredibly gratifying to be able to host a tournament here for something we’ve played such a big part in as an organization – to create these opportunities for these young ladies,” Bears manager of youth and high school football Gustavo Silva said. “It’s great to bring people into this facility and watch their reaction to having this once in a lifetime opportunity to compete for a state championship in a new sport in the Walter Payton Center. Making their dreams come true makes us feel really good about what we’re doing.”
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“It’s amazing,” CPS senior manager of elementary sport Juliana Zavala said. “I had a preseason meeting and I kind of joked, ‘now let’s bring the state championship home.’ I remember that conversation and being here, having two of our city teams represented, it’s the cherry on top of today. To me it’s all the hard work that’s been behind the scenes. You have two teams — Lane Tech and Phillips — who were the underdogs. They came in and upset the No. 1 team from last year and completely shocked everyone.”
Vanita Krouch, the quarterback of the USA national team and a three-time International Flag Football gold medalist, presented the team awards after the title game.
Krouch, who holds a 19-1 record in international flag tournaments since 2018, spoke to the four semifinal teams before their games. She discussed her journey toward finding flag football as her passion and encouraged the girls to continue trailblazing and pushing for more opportunities.
“I think it’s important for the girls to have a visual role model that they can aspire to be themselves,” Krouch said. “I’m honored to be that person and a trailblazer of this sport having played for 16 years and representing USA Football and the Olympic announcement. It’s just a dream that all of us can set forth and believe, ‘I have something to reach for. I have something to work for.'”
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With the 2023 girls flag football season wrapped up, Silva and Zavala are ecstatic about the continued growth in teams and talent throughout the league. This season featured over 100 teams scattered throughout the state, more than doubling the count from 2022.
Now, the Bears, CPL and the rest of the league will shift their focus toward girls flag football becoming an IHSA sanctioned sport in 2024 and creating opportunities in the sport past the high school level.
