by Scott Sacry
The Hamilton girls flag football team hosted a “Jamboree” with the Three Forks and Jefferson teams on Saturday, August 31. This is Hamilton’s first season participating in flag football and this was their first ever competition.
“It was really cool to be a part of something new like this,” said Mitchell Wassam, Hamilton’s first year flag football head coach. “The girls had a blast!”
The format of the Jamboree included an offense versus defense type practice where each team’s offense ran 10 to 15 plays against the other team’s defense. After this, each team competed in two 20-minute scrimmages, with Hamilton playing Jefferson, then Jefferson playing Three Forks, and finally Hamilton playing Three Forks. In the scrimmages, the Hamilton girls defeated Jefferson 21-0, then defeated Three Forks 24-9.
Hamilton has 19 players on the team this year. “We had open fields this summer, and I told the girls to ‘bring a friend’ and it grew from there,” said Wassam. “They are an ultra competitive group. Many play other sports, and they have a lot of confidence and have high expectations for themselves.”
As one would imagine, flag football rules are slightly different from traditional football. For example, there is no fumbling; when the ball hits the ground it’s dead. Also, there is no flag guarding, where a player tries to fend off the defenders’ attempts to grab their flag. Of course, there are other differences, but the overall action is close enough to regular football that a casual fan can follow the action.
Understandably, there is a learning curve for everyone. Coach Wassam has done his research and continues to educate himself and his players about the rules of the game. On Saturday, Wassam helped orchestrate the event by directing players, officials, and coaches.
“I’m kind of a rules and procedures guy,” said Wassam, “so I did a lot of independent research. Montana flag football is modeled after Georgia, so I reached out to an experienced Georgia high school coach, and he emailed me back with helpful strategies, practice structures and all sorts of useful information.”
Girls flag football in Montana is in its third year, having started in 2022. At its April 2024 meeting, the Montana High School Association (MHSA) reclassified flag football as an “emerging sport.” Previously it had been a “non-sanctioned MHSA Activity.” Only three schools participated in 2022, then eight in 2023, and there are 16 teams competing this year.
The Atlanta Falcons of the NFL have helped get flag football going in Montana. They offer to help fund for the first three years of a program for each high school in Montana, so Hamilton will get this support for the next three years.
The Falcons also sponsored camps throughout Montana this summer to educate coaches, officials and participants in the fundamentals of the game. Three of the Hamilton girls and coach Wassum were able to attend a camp at the Griz Stadium in July.
The flag football season is shorter than other fall sports. Divisionals are in Hamilton on Saturday, September 21, then State is in Bozeman the following weekend on Sept. 28. Glacier High School has won the last two state championships.
Saturday’s flag football Jamboree was similar to other high school sporting events: there were cheers and there were jeers, there were injuries and there were smiles. But on top of all of that, there was a spirit of optimism in the air that springs from dedicated and cheerful people trying to accomplish something new.