Uni girls ready to make history during inaugural CIF-approved flag football season

Uni head coach Justin Schulman (left) with players (from left) Carmen Cruz, Leah Schulman, Riley Hertstein and assistant coach Jeff Marchiorlatti. (Photos: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

University High School girls are excited to be part of history as they participate in the first season of CIF approved 7-on-7 flag football which begins this month throughout Orange County and the CIF Southern Section.

A number of teams in Orange County, including University, took part in the Matt Leinart League as a club sport the past two years. University won the league title in 2021 with eight teams competing and reached the semifinals last year with 12 teams involved before losing to eventual league champion Beckman.

“I think it’s a long time coming for those of us who were doing this for the past couple of years,” said head coach Justin Schulman. “We really wanted this to happen and we were pretty vocal. Obviously, the CIF approved it and the next step was IUSD (Irvine Unified School District).”

University and Woodbridge players voiced their opinions at a board meeting, asking the district for support.

Schulman said the players and coaches and others “wanted our voice heard as to the impact it could have and the growth of the sport.”

They were listened to.

Board members agreed about the potential benefits and supported the teams in the district with funding, according to Mark Cunningham, Irvine Unified School District athletic director.

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

The five public schools in Irvine will be in the Pacific Coast League with Laguna Hills and have a double-round league schedule with tentatively a post-season tournament to wrap up the season. Teams will also be involved in weekend tournaments. CIF officials are hoping there will be enough teams participating in girls flag football in 2024 to have traditional CIF playoffs and championships.

“(We’re) grateful to IUSD for their support in providing funds to make this a great experience for our girls,” Cunningham said.

The support could make a world of difference. Last year, since the sport wasn’t a CIF-approved sport, the University players had to do most of the promotion, mainly through social media, to get the word out.

This year the CIF and the district are fully behind the teams.

As a result, Schulman will once again get to coach his daughter, this time in a CIF-approved sport and the players will have the full-support of the school.

“We looked at the initial rules and there are some things that need to be fixed, but at least this is a start for my daughter who is a senior and has been playing since fifth grade, this has been a labor of love for us, so I’m excited to kind of see this come to fruition,” Schulman said.

Schulman and his daughter were involved in the sport the past 11 years in the Matt Leinart League, including two years at the high school level when the team competed as a club sport.

“For me, this is it, one year, she (his daughter) graduates and I’m done but it’s been a wonderful experience,” Schulman said. “It will be one season to get it off the ground and then we pass it on.”

He’s excited that his team, which played mainly at neutral sites the past couple of years, will get to play on campus in front of the home fans every week.

The games will include two 20-minute halves with a running clock, except in the last two minutes of each half (Schulman is opposed to the rule because he said the games won’t be long enough).

No blocking or moving screens are allowed on offense and defense under rules adopted by the CIF State Office, which were modified from the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association. Each player has three flags and play is stopped when a defender pulls one of the flags of the offensive player.

The approach to the game is simple, Schulman said:

“What I tell my girls is doing everything at full speed. Because it’s new and so many girls haven’t played, I think there is an apprehension, if you’re apprehensive on the field, it behooves the other team, so we’re trying to encourage them to go full speed. And the other big part is just listen. I’ll put them in the right place, it’s just listening about where to be. The other thing is tenaciousness and having that grit and going and getting it.”

Several University players, who were busy Thursday preparing for the opening tournament hosted by the Chargers on Saturday, Aug. 19, said they were excited that girls flag football will be a CIF-approved sport.

Riley Hertstein, senior, running back and wide receiver and safety:

“I am just so happy that it’s finally a CIF sport because I remember my sophomore year, in Leah’s kitchen with Leah and her dad Justin, who is our coach when we were making this team, we had to pull whatever athletes we knew from sports like water polo, volleyball, softball, soccer and we had to create this team and we didn’t know what to expect.

“And we ended up winning the first inaugural championship so it was awesome that even though this is my last year and it’s a CIF sport the girls younger than me will get to continue this on and I hope more girls will want to do it too. I’m really excited, every year we don’t know what to expect because there are always new girls, but especially this year we have a lot of new girls coming in and they’re excited it’s a CIF sport. There has been a lot of improvement since the first day.”

Leah Schulman, senior, who plays center on offense and is a front-line defender:

“It just goes to show it should be taken seriously, we should be out there playing. I’m so excited to be able to leave that legacy for other girls. Starting in the beginning. It was like all from scratch. I’m so happy, so many freshmen are here, so many sophomores are here because they were inspired by that.

“I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t play some of the other teams we did in the past (in the league format). But its’ a real sport, it’s like boys football, so we get to play all the teams that they play. I play water polo also so we play all the teams they play too, but I love it.

“Our games are going to be right after school so hopefully we can get some people out. We had a home game last year and we had over 100 people come out and support us so that was really awesome to see. We were honored at a boys football game too.”

Carmen Cruz, junior, who is a wide receiver and linebacker:

“I’m super excited, I just started playing last year. From the year I’ve been playing, I’ve made some of my best friends. This year will be really fun, because I will still have the original girls with me, but next year will still be fun and hopefully more girls come out. I’m really happy that a lot of younger girls are coming out but I’m a little bummed that girls in my grade and the senior grade aren’t coming out. I think the energy is really good and I think that’s a super big part of our team specifically and what makes us so unique.”

University’s girls have a chance to play in a sport which, according to Schulman, has a bright future. He said a number of schools who compete on the NAIA level are offering scholarships and he believes NCAA colleges will soon begin fielding teams presenting more opportunities for high school girls.

“They’re voting to potentially make it an Olympic sport in 2028 which would be fantastic,” he said. “And the Chargers have gotten behind this as well, which is really cool to see.”

Schulman said there are numerous benefits of the sport. Players are required to wear mouth guards and flags. Helmets are not required.

“There is no padding or anything like that, so from an expense perspective for CIF, it’s not intensive, it’s not a high expense proposition; don’t get me wrong, you have to pay for officials and fields, but from an equipment perspective, that’s one of the beautiful things, girls provide their own mouthguards and cleats and the school is providing uniforms.”

University’s first league game will be on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at Portola.

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