For a while this summer, it was not clear Mobile Christian would have a girls flag football team at all. Now the Leopards have a roster, a region game under their belts and a coach who believes the program’s best days are well ahead of it.
Mobile Christian was listed with the Alabama High School Athletic Association as fielding a team this fall, but its region opponents were not certain the Leopards would actually take the field. They play in Private School, Region 1, the smallest region in the classification, alongside McGill-Toolen and St. Michael Catholic.
The school answered that question quickly once students were asked.
From a Flyer to a Roster
Head coach Myshun McAlpine said the program got its start when athletics director Payton Wasden circulated a sign-up sheet to gauge interest. The response was bigger than anyone expected.
“Mr. Payton, he had put out a little flyer, trying to see how many girls may want to do it,” McAlpine said. “And a bunch of girls filled out the paper. I think we actually had like 35 players come out.”
More than 30 students expressed interest at the start, but as the summer went on, the number dropped as some players chose other commitments. Today, the Leopards carry 13 players, a group McAlpine says has grown close.
A Very Young Team
The roster skews young, even by the standards of a first-year program. There are no seniors. There is one junior and there are three sophomores. Everyone else is a freshman, eighth-grader or seventh-grader.
McAlpine sees that as an opportunity rather than a drawback.
“I’ve got a chance to build something and hopefully we can build it,” he said. “It’s very exciting for them.”
Mobile Christian, a private Christian school in west Mobile, serves students from kindergarten through 12th grade, which allows middle schoolers to compete on varsity teams. That structure means many of this year’s players could spend five or six seasons together in the program.
Learning the Game From the Ground Up
Like any new program, the Leopards had to start with the basics. Some players did not know the rules when practice began, so the coaching staff studied the rulebook and showed the team video to teach the game.
The learning curve was eased by experience some players brought with them. Several had played flag football in church leagues and other recreational settings growing up.
Flag football is played without tackling; defenders stop the ball carrier by pulling a flag from her belt. The game puts a premium on passing, quick decisions and speed in open space, which makes it a natural fit for athletes who play basketball, soccer or track.
A Near-Upset in the Region Opener
The Leopards played their first region game last week at home against McGill-Toolen, one of the area’s more established programs. The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 12-0 lead before Mobile Christian scored twice late in the first half to go in front 14-12.
That lead held until the final minute. McGill-Toolen scored with 32.7 seconds left to escape with an 18-14 win.
McAlpine took the result in stride and pointed to how close his team came.
“Couple plays here and there, and we win this one,” he said. “But like I say, first-time program. We’re going to go back to the drawing board and go back to work. We’re going to get better. As long as we’re getting better and better every week, that’s all I care about. As long as my girls are learning the game, that’s all I care about. And as you can see, we’re getting better and better.”
A Quarterback Who Grew Up Playing With Her Brothers
Sophomore Sara Frances Dudley was one of the first to sign up. The only girl among a set of triplets, she grew up playing football in the neighborhood against her brothers, and she said they are still outside throwing the ball around regularly.
She wanted to play quarterback, and she does. She also starts at defensive back.
“I didn’t think we were going to have a team because we didn’t have enough people, but then we hosted a tryout or just a get-together, and then we had enough people to play, so we were like, all right, we’re going to put this together,” Dudley said. “We started practicing, and we turned out to be pretty decent.”
For Dudley, the appeal goes beyond the scoreboard. “You get to come together with all your friends and your school and you get to compete together and it’s just fun being together,” she said. “Just all your friends, family’s watching you, other friends are watching you.”
A Multi-Sport Athlete Gets Her Wish
Sophomore Kai Wright already plays basketball, softball and runs track and field for Mobile Christian. Flag football gave her one more sport, and one she had been waiting for since middle school. She plays receiver, running back and defensive back.
“When I was younger, the elementary school I went to, I always hung out with the boys, and they always asked me to be their receiver,” Wright said. “So I always played football with them and I always kind of enjoyed playing it. So when I was in seventh grade here, they started talking about getting a flag football team. And every year I told them I was going to play. This year they finally decided to make a team, and when I found out, I knew I was going to play.”
Wright said the season has been as much about friendship as football.
“Just bonding with everybody, coming together as a collective and just playing, not taking it too serious, but still having as much fun as we can and just enjoying ourselves, growing up with each other,” she said. “I’ve been playing with these girls for a long time in any sport, and I just love them all to death.”
A Sport on the Rise in Alabama
Mobile Christian joins a sport that has grown rapidly in Alabama high schools over the past several years. The AHSAA first approved girls flag football in 2021 with financial backing from the Atlanta Falcons and their owner, Arthur Blank, along with Nike, and the association later voted to make it a full championship sport with official state titles.
Around Mobile and Baldwin counties, the sport has taken hold quickly. Spanish Fort became the first area flag football team to earn a Team of the Week honor this season after beating McGill-Toolen, and programs such as Fairhope, Alma Bryant and Baker have filled weekly schedules with competitive games.
For a small private school with a roster built mostly from middle schoolers and freshmen, simply getting on the field is a first step. Learning to win close games against teams like McGill-Toolen is the next one.
‘The Future Looks Bright’
McAlpine is convinced the experience his young players are getting now will pay off.
“The future looks bright for this program, real bright,” he said.
His players seem to share that view. This year’s group is young, but with no seniors set to graduate, nearly every player on the roster can return next fall with a season of experience behind her.