In March 2024, Xaverian proudly announced the official start of their own Girl’s Flag Football Team. From the start of Xaverian’s journey in co-education to this very day, girls have made a great impact on the school and made a mark in its history.

Coach Victoria Burgarella joined the Xaverian faculty this year, and not only has she become a favored physical education teacher, but she is most known for her position as head coach of the Girls Junior Varsity and Varsity Flag Football Teams. Along with Coach Victoria, Coach Anthony Bianchi and Coach Graig Arne have assisted in coaching both teams! 

Coach Vic said, “The inaugural season has been awesome. It is everything I expected it to be and more. All the student-athletes have exceeded my expectations and are learning so quickly. We have had so much success in such a short amount of time.”

Flag football is most known for its innovative defensive methods. In fact, flag football was created on military bases as a “safer” form of tackle football. Instead of having the defensive lineman tackle the offensive linemen, flag football replaced the tackle method with flag belts. Each member in the field is required to wear a belt that possesses two flags. 

When an offensive runner catches a pass or a defensive runner makes an interception, the opposing team is tasked with pulling the flag of that player. Along with this, the defensive rusher is allowed to pass the blocker and pull the flag of the quarterback before the football is released from their hands. Thus leading the next down to start where that flag was pulled. 

Coach Vic, Coach Graig, and Coach Bianchi have all combined their levels of coaching experience to create a positive atmosphere and encourage tactic to encourage the success of our adapting flag football teams! 

 “Coach Graig and Bianchi are great to work alongside of. We all pick up where each other has left off and contribute to the team’s success. We are a powerful team together, and I can rely on each of them to help us get the job done,” stated Coach Victoria Burgarella. 

Not only have the coaches exclaimed their pride in the teams, but the players have also spoken all great things of their experience so far! The girls, bonded especially with their positions on the inaugural team, have been able to create a tremendous amount of memories through this exciting new sport.

As the Flag Football season has officially come to a close, Xaverian is proud to say that the Varsity team closed out with a great record. They finished their regular season with a game score of 8 wins and 2 losses overall. As for the seeds, Varsity came 1st in the north division and second overall, exceeding expectations beyond measure. On Monday, May 13th, the Varsity team went head-to-head with Moore Catholic Academy in the semi-finals. Xaverian fell short to 31-20, but the Clippers put up a tremendous fight. 

Xaverian’s inaugural Flag Football season ended with great triumph. Both the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams take pride on their journey from start to finish, ready to come back next year with their heads held high!