Until last year, Kiyah Enoch’s big athletic dreams had always been in the realm of track and field.Enoch’s talent as a hurdler is unmistakable — the junior at Aurora’s Smoky Hill High School placed in the top eight in both events at the Class 5A state meet in the spring — but she may be on track to take an unexpected detour.Track & field may no longer be her ticket to college, as she is one of a growing number of female athletes around Aurora and across the country to fall in love with flag football, which is about to begin its first season as a sport officially sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association.“I used to say football was pointless,” Enoch said with a smile after a Smoky Hill practice on Aug. 12. “My dad played football in college, but I just most ignored it because I’d known it for so long. But then I watched someone play flag football and I remember being inspired and thought I would just try it.“Now that there are scholarships for it, I’m trying to get one for that as well.”

The Smoky Hill girls flag football team opened practice Aug. 12 with plenty of passing drills.

New dreams continue to be unlocked for young female athletes such as Enoch, who find themselves in an era of unprecedented interest in women’s sports (which has been boosted by the rise of the WNBA and high-profile performances of women’s teams and individuals at the Paris Olympics).With that has come new opportunities in sports such as flag football, which offers female athletes the chance to compete in a sport that many of them watched growing up. They can do so without the possibility of violent contact that makes tackle football risky.It’s a sport that appeals to serious athletes, but there’s no prerequisite.“This is a sport for everybody,” Smoky Hill coach Augustine Agyei said. “We’ve had athletes from basketball, field hockey, soccer, or really any field sport. …You can put almost anybody on the field, especially with the way it is set up right now.”On top of that for the current group of those involved is the chance to be part of history. When the season begins on Aug. 17, those who suit up for the 64 teams across Colorado — which will include 11 in the Aurora area — will be trailblazers in the state.“Everybody was super excited (when the sport was sanctioned),” Regis Jesuit senior Catherine Eure said. “I think it’s really important and special for us to grow.”This could just be the beginning for some Colorado preps in a sport that now has scholarship possibilities (22 schools at the NAIA level have women’s flag football) and has been tabbed for inclusion in the 2028 Olympics.The big approvalThe historic vote came on April 23, when the Colorado High School Activities Association Legislative Council overwhelmingly approved a proposal to sanction girls’ flag football by a 57-9 count.That brought Colorado into the now double-digit fold of states that offer girls flag football as a sanctioned prep sport, as it joined Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, and New York. The National Federation of High School State Associations (NFHS) notes that 17 other states have the sport in various stages of pilot status.Led by Bobby Mestas — Director of Youth and High School Football Development —the Denver Broncos have been big backers of the sport’s rise locally. A day after the sanctioning vote, the Broncos held a news conference at Empower Field to celebrate in the end zone, so to speak.“It’s a historic day and a historic moment for our state,” CHSAA Commissioner Mike Krueger said at the press conference. “I’m proud to live and serve in a state that leads the country in the participation of high school female athletes. By offering this as a sanctioned sport, we’re not only offering expanded opportunities for young women and their personal growth and success, but we are also fostering a culture of inclusivity and empowerment that reverberates far beyond the field with generations that have yet to come.”

Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel

Players from several programs make noise as they stand together on the field at All-City Stadium during the first jamboree-style girls’ flag football tournament in 2022.

Broncos owner Carrie Penner, team president Damani Leach plus Mestas and Ally Engelken (vice president of community impact and executive director of the Denver Broncos Foundation) all spoke to the momentous nature of adding another option for female athletes.It was a lengthy process filled with overcoming hurdles, but one that has paved a bright future.“It matters for all of those who love football but have never seen a place for herself,” Penner said. “It matters for every student who has watched others find their passion and for other students looking for her community. This matters.”

Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel

Carrie Penner, left, of the Denver Broncos ownership group and Arvada West senior Sawyer Swanson hold up a jersey that commemorates the sanctioning of girls flag football at a press conference on April 23, 2024, at Empower Field at Mile High.

Clearly, it matters around the country.A recent Associated Press quoted research from USA Football that detailed that between 2014 and 2022, the participation rate in flag football for girls 6-12 increased by 178%. NFHS numbers indicate that around 500,000 girls between the ages of 6-17 play the sport across the country, which is well over double the number from 2019.That should only continue to climb due to the wide-reaching appeal.“It might grow in certain areas faster than others, but once it starts, it’s going to grow fast,” Grandview athletic director Wes Smock said after he attended the Empower Field press conference.“Providing more opportunities for kids to be engaged in school is what we’re after. It’s an opportunity. That’s the bottom line.”Opportunities have become much more plentiful recently, as the CHSAA has recently sanctioned girls’ wrestling, boys’ volleyball, and Unified bowling, all of which have been well received.Building from scratchLarry Bull remembers the day at All-City Stadium in 2022 like it was yesterday.The longtime athletic director of Cherry Creek Schools is among those whose memory of the first jamboree-style girls’ flag football tournament that took place on the campus of Denver South High School is etched in his memory.Only three school districts piloted the sport at its beginning — Cherry Creek Schools, Denver Public Schools, and Jefferson County Schools — and the players and coaches embraced it with infectious enthusiasm. Though the play and strategy began at a very basic level, the passion shined through.“I don’t think there is anything that would have made us question why we were doing this. …Once we got it off the ground, the excitement of the participants was amazing,” Bull recalled.“At All-City Stadium, when the teams lined up on the field for a picture — which was also the 50th anniversary of Title IX — I knew we had something special.”Flag football helped fill a void of participation as sports tried to rebound following the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic. With very little close-quarter contact and a small amount of equipment needed, it became something that could be organized quickly.Mestas and the Broncos were glad to do much of the heavy lifting in the process, from setting up tournaments to securing officials and providing proper equipment, but they needed the buy-in of participants to make it“Thanks to the school districts that took a chance,” Mestas said. “Without the courage to do that, we’d have no place to start. Getting off to a good first year was crucial, and once we had that under our belt, we were able to double in size and felt like we were prepared to grow.”The popularity grew from there, and the Broncos estimated that more than 1,500 girls played the sport in 2023 in a pilot season and that was still with several schools not yet fielding teams.

Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel

The Smoky Hill girls flag football team opened practice Aug. 12 with plenty of passing drills.

Last season concluded with a 16-team playoff that ended with Arvada West defeating Cherry Creek in a game played at the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse at the Broncos’ Center Health Training Center.With a whopping 64 teams set to compete in 2024 — which will be split evenly between Classes 4A and 5A, with 20 teams set to qualify for the postseason in both classifications — those numbers will rise significantly.Bull also pointed out that with the approval of the sport will naturally come desire to be the best.“Just like when any sport is approved, the competition piece is increased, so that will be something else to watch for this season,” he said.Basics of the gameWith sanctioning comes the need to make adjustments in order to comply with NFHS rules.Girls flag football in Colorado will look different than it did during its pilot period when multiple games could be held horizontally on a regulation-sized football field. That won’t be possible under the new field dimensions, which will span 40 yards wide by 80 yards long with 10-yard end zones at both ends.Seven players on each side will be on the field, with the offensive team attempting to move forward across three lines to gain (where they get first downs) with the goal of scoring a touchdown, which is worth six points. Flag football does not have kicks, so teams will have the option to go for one point (getting a possession from the 3-yard line) or two (getting a possession from the 10-yard line).A game will be played over 48 minutes (four 12-minute periods) plus a 10-minute halftime.The regular season will consist of a maximum of 15 contests ahead of the postseason, which still has several details to be worked out by CHSAA.Game dayWith standalone games dominating the schedule in place of the multiple-team jamborees of the pilot era, student bodies will have a chance to support their flag football teams like any other sport.Creative scheduling can help with that as is the case with Regis Jesuit, which already has a huge parochial school rivalry in place with Valor Christian. The rivalry is especially heated in tackle football with games that regularly pack the stands. This season, the girls’ flag football game will take place before the boys’ game on Aug. 30 at Valor Christian, which should give both teams a chance to show what they are capable of.“There’s usually a big tailgate (at Valor), so we’re hoping to have a big audience for that one,” Regis Jesuit senior Alexiah Toval said.