Last year, 2022, was the first year that flag football was offered as a girls varsity sport in Suffolk County (Section XI). Center Moriches was one of the first schools to participate. They had a dozen girls on the team.

The girls’ sport is becoming increasingly popular, with The New York Jets and Nike sponsoring girls’ teams across Long Island and New Jersey as of last spring. Nassau County schools that participated last year include Freeport, Hempstead, Locust Valley, Long Beach, Lynbrook, Massapequa, Plainview-Old Bethpage and West Hempstead. In Suffolk, there was Amityville, Center Moriches, Huntington Station, Longwood, North Babylon, Sachem East, Sachem North and Ward Melville. As of the new season, Suffolk County has 22 teams.

Last year, the Center Moriches team took home one win with six losses, as did Sachem North. The top teams for the season were Walt Whitman, with an undefeated season of 7-0, and Sachem East, with a 5-2 season. 

“We were very proud because we played all big or very big schools,” said Jeremy Thode, the head of health, PE, athletics and campus safety and management at Center Moriches High School. “This year there are more teams joining, and we have returning players with experience.”

The school, he said, decided to add the sport in the first year to include another female team offering, which was largely funded by a grant.
“We couldn’t pass it up!” he said.

“I joined Center Moriches flag football because I love the game of football,” said senior Julia Hromada, noting that her brothers played football growing up. “I was always surrounded by the sport. So when I heard that Center Moriches was going to have flag football, I thought it would be fun to give it a shot.”

The coach of the team is no longer with the district, and they are currently finalizing the new coach for the new season.