Record setting football player Bella Rasmussen hopes to inspire other girls

Bella Rasmussen gains yards in a game this season. (Photo courtesy Doug Franz).

Bella Rasmussen of the Laguna Beach High School varsity football team said she hopes other girls can succeed in the sports like she did last week when she became the first girl in California to score two touchdowns in a game, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

Rasmussen scored two touchdowns in the second quarter of Laguna Beach’s 48-0 victory over Godinez Friday night. She’s a senior and the touchdowns were her first on the varsity team.

While girls will still have the opportunity to play tackle football, there will likely be another option for them in the fall of 2023 with the start of girls flag football, which will be sanctioned by the CIF.

Rasmussen, asked about the addition of girls flag footballl, said she was excited.

“When I first heard about that, it was probably one of the coolest things I had heard in a very long time,” she said Saturday. “It’s been so many years of watching girls in football kind of grow and to find out that there’s actually going to be a sport where girls can go and pursue football and learn the rules of the game and hopefully introduce them to the actual sport is, I think, the most awesome thing ever.

“I’m really happy to see that we’re putting more girls into a sport like football.”

It’s been quite a week for Rasmussen. The video clip of her scoring touchdowns was featured on several Los Angeles television stations. In addition, Cal-Hi Sports confirmed on Twitter Wednesday that the record will officially be entered into the publication’s record books.

Laguna Beach, 5-3 overall and 1-0 in league play, hosts Westminster (8-0, 1-0) in a Pac-4 League game Friday.

Rasmussen said she will be excited for another game and has set some goals.

“As a personal goal definitely to score again, but as a team goal, I hope we can make it to CIF (playoffs) and those guys get everything they deserve, because they’re a pretty cool team,” she said.

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—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com