The newly formed Bonita Vista High (BVH) girls’ varsity flag football team ranks third nationally and first in San Diego County as Sept. begins. With a 5-0 winning streak, the team held the number three spot successfully up until their recent loss against Grossmont High on Sept. 18.
“It feels so good [knowing we ranked third]. It is definitely scary to have something to lose, but it also gives confidence and knowing that we can win and go farther than we thought at the beginning of the season,” slot receiver, outside linebacker and senior Lucia Quintero said.
Currently, the team is ranked seventh nationally and second in San Diego; the rankings continue fluctuating as the teams play more games. BVH’s current statistics are 7-1 (win-loss) overall and 3-1 in league. Similar to Quintero, running back, outside linebacker and senior Tatiana Colon mentions the high ranking “feels really good”.
“It is really hard for any sports team to be ranked that high. Knowing that we were able to is really nice. A lot of that has to do with [our] coaches putting a lot of trust in us and giving us these really hard plays,” Colon said. “We put in the work to learn the plays and to execute them well. Some other teams that we play only have a few plays here and there, but we have over 50 plays.”
Each player on the team has a wristband including all of the team’s plays, adding up to just over 50. The varsity coaches, Larry Schoen and Head coach Tristan lamb are incorporating their experience of playing and coaching football onto the flag football team in order to be more successful on the field. However, it is not the easiest to remember and execute plays without putting in the work.
“In the beginning [of the season], for our first game we were scrambling a lot. But now, we are used to looking at our plays and going. At first it was very overwhelming and stressful, but now we have all got the hang of it,” Quintero said.
After extensively studying their playbooks, the flag football team is able to use what they’ve learned as a strength against their opponents. Their most recent game on Sept. 21 against Scripps Ranch High, resulted in a score of 51-0—showing how the team is executing their various strategies.
“We throw a lot of plays out [on the field] and the teams do not know what we are doing. We played a couple of teams who only had a few plays and we were able to figure that out early so that helps us dominate on the defensive side.” Lamb said. “If teams watch film of us, they might not even see a play that we are going to run against. So, having a lot of plays throws off their balance which has been successful.”
Lamb mentions that despite the team’s success, he makes sure the athletes know not to focus on their rankings, so that when they play in their games they are able to think in the moment. Another factor of the team’s high statistics is the different players the team consists of.
“Flag football is all about speed. I know that we have some fast and smart girls coming in from soccer, track, volleyball and softball. [Flag football] is a sport that brings all of the sports together. It was pretty fun to see that,” Lamb said.
As the girls’ flag football team continues their first season, Quintero, Colon and Lamb all mention their hopes for reaching and potentially winning the first ever flag football championship. For Lamb, he mentions how he hopes the team will compete and win the state championship game.
“All of our girls have played big games [since] each of their respective sports have played in a championship game or in an open division. So we have some competitive athletes here and I want to continue to build on what they have already done in their respective sports,” Lamb said. “If they have a state [championship] this year, I would love to make it to state. We are one of the teams that can definitely do it. Our first goal is to get through playoffs and win the section.”
