At the beginning of this school year, Hawaiʻi student athletes were in for a surprise when it was announced that a new high school sport was being added – flag football. There was an enthusiastic response from HBA girls, with seventeen of them signing up to join the HBA-Sacred Hearts co-op team, making up the bulk of the team. The ILH season kicked off with seven schools participating.
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Junior Lauren Okuda, who also plays basketball and tennis, was excited to try out a new sport with her friends. “I’ve also always enjoyed playing football with my friends at the beach, so I was like, you know what? Yolo,” she said.
Coach Koy Omo, who has over 30 years of coaching experience, was tasked with coaching the inaugural HBA-Sacred Hearts team, which he described as “an opportunity [he] could not turn down.” Omo set out to establish a culture of competition and positivity. “I want the players to have fun while learning something new about themselves. Playing flag football will be one of the hardest experiences in their life, but in the end, they will become a stronger student and contributor in the community and the State of Hawaiʻi,” he wrote.
Many of the girls struggled at first with learning the basics of the game. Emily Ching, a sophomore basketball and track and field athlete, reflected on the start of the season, saying, “It seems really easy to just score a touchdown and run with the ball, but it’s challenging to do so. There’s a lot of different movements I had to learn in flag football, which made it challenging to play it for the first time. Also the plays were new and hard to learn.” Coach Omo explained that flag football required a range of athletic skills. “[It’s like] a fast break in basketball, requiring players to throw and catch the football while making quick defensive decisions against a moving opponent. At the same time, players must use their speed and agility to execute plays effectively on both offense and defense.”
The season started off with a couple of tough losses against Kamehameha, Mid-Pacific, and Punahou. They secured their first win in their fourth game, over Hawaiian Mission. The game-winning touchdown, scored by senior Brooke Brennan and freshman Hallie Chock, became a memorable moment for many of the girls. Okuda said, “We were all screaming and jumping, and it was just such a fun moment. I remember being so happy and hyped for [Hallie] and our team, and it was definitely a highlight of the season.”
The team ended the season with a 2-4 record. Even though they had more losses than wins, Coach Omo is looking forward seeing the returning players get better in the years to come. “[I hope that the girls] continue to grow in their flag football skills, develop a genuine love for the game, and surpass even their own expectations,” he said. Many of the girls are excited to return. Freshman Kate Ragain, who is thinking of returning, said that simply learning a new sport and meeting new people has been a highlight. Okuda, too, is considering another season. “I honestly really do like the people and the sport. There are times where the sun or fatigue gets to me, and I think ‘why am I even doing this,’ but it always helps to look at the bigger picture of what this sport has given me. This always happens with other sports as well, so I just try to appreciate my ability to play and the joy that what I’m doing brings me. Hopefully senioritis doesn’t get to me next year though,” she said.
