Barrington High School may be adding a varsity girls flag football program this spring. 

That is welcome news for Barrington High School freshmen sisters Skyler, Emma and Lucy LoVerme. The triplets played flag football in the Barrington Pop Warner program when they were younger. They also competed in NFL Flag regional tournaments.

Skyler, Emma and Lucy all voiced support for building a varsity flag football program at Barrington High School.

“For sure. I heard lots of people talking about it,” Lucy said during an interview on Saturday, Oct. 10. “They’re all really excited to have a girls flag football program. And I’m pretty sure lots of people already reached out about it too. Everyone got an email. Yeah, lots of people are excited about playing flag football.”

Emma agreed.

“I think a lot of people would join flag football. It would be a big thing to talk about,” she said. 

Barrington High School Director of Athletics and Student Activities George Finn said the Rhode Island Interscholastic League will offer “Girls Flag Football” as a spring sport this year. He said there are number of other high schools across Rhode Island that have declared they will add the sport. Finn added that there are a series of steps Barrington school officials will need to take before a girls flag football program can become official at BHS.

“We’re exploring potential opportunities, and we’ll take that information and make the appropriate decisions,” Finn said. 

“For us to get it going, just like for other sports that have come on board, there’s got to be fundraising support, equipment, transportation. 

I can say that between the (RI) Interscholastic League and the NFL, the (New England) Patriots, there is some potential support.”

Barrington High School teacher Drew Genetti, who has coached tackle and flag football teams in the past, said he spoke to Finn about the possible creation of a girls flag football program at Barrington High School. He also shared a recent email with BHS students to gauge interest in a program this spring. 

Genetti said the initial email went out to sophomores, juniors and seniors at Barrington High School, and dozens of students signed up to participate. Plenty of freshmen have also voiced interest.

“I was blown away,” Genetti said.

Genetti said all three divisions of NCAA college competition — Divisions I, II, and III — have already added girls flag football.

“I believe it’s going to become a scholarship based sport,” Genetti said.

He said 20 states have added girls flag football as a high school varsity sport, adding that Rhode Island is the first New England state to do so. In addition, the Olympics have added it as an official sport. 

Recently, a production crew from The Today Show stopped by Barrington to speak with people about girls flag football. 

“This is literally a brand new sport and it’s kind of popping off,” Genetti said.

Genetti said the RIIL (Rhode Island Interscholastic League) is asking that by Nov. 1 high schools certify that they will have a girls flag football team this spring. 

Genetti said it is not yet clear what format or rules the league will follow, or if student-athletes will be allowed to play an additional sport in the spring while they also compete in flag football. 

The LoVerme sisters are members of the field hockey team at Barrington High School this fall, and plan to play basketball in the winter. Right now they are excited by the prospects of being able to play flag football for the Eagles in the spring. 

“It’s really fun to play. It’s a competitive sport, too,” Lucy said. "It’s really cool that it’s going to be a high school sport now.”

Skyler agreed.

“I like how it’s coming to the high school (level) — I do think it should have happened earlier,” she said. “It’s fun.”

When the LoVerme girls played flag football at the rec level, their dad Will was often the coach. He shared his support for adding girls flag football at the varsity level.

“I think Barrington needs to be ahead of the curve, rather than behind the curve. I think we need to do this as fast as possible, by the spring. The faster we jump on it, the faster the program can build,” he said.

“I think there’s a lot of parent support, there’s coaching support, there’s kids wanting to do it. The interest is high. There’s a buzz about it. With the NFL behind it and all the sponsors behind it, I think the sport is here to stay. It’s going to be one of the fastest growing sports over the next decade.”

LoVerme said the sport of flag football is exciting, fast-paced, allows everyone to get involved, and is creative. He said there is already a buzz building about the interscholastic league adding the sport.

“… all these girls in high school right now, once it’s out there I think they’re going to have to make choices about what sports to play this spring,” LoVerme said. “The fact that we could potentially field a team this spring is so exciting. I think the buzz will be amazing in school. The whole town.

“I think the girls have watched football forever and felt like the games get packed in Friday night lights, and they felt a little left out over the last 50 years or whatever. Now it’s their chance to be out there and have a similar experience.”

LoVerme said he is not opposed to allowing girls to play flag football in addition to other spring sports. 

“As long as it’s at the varsity level and we’re not at a disadvantage,” he said. “I’ve seen the competition out there. The regional competition, the national competition … this is full time. If you’re going to go for it, you’ve got to go for it. 

“If we need to transition that way to get enough girls, fine, but if we can get enough girls as a full-time varsity sport, I’d say… be ahead of the curve.”

Not the first time

Finn said Barrington High School has added a number of varsity sports over the last few decades. He mentioned boys and girls lacrosse, and then girls ice hockey in the early 2000s. Barrington also added boys volleyball recently. 

The BHS longtime sports administrator said it has been hard not to notice all the support girls flag football has had in recent years. 

“Obviously, you’ve seen the NFL. You watch the NFL games and they’re pushing for it, you watch the advertisements, the Super Bowl last year,” he said.