Maddie Deti has grown up with football as the family business. Her father, Cody Deti, is in his 16th year as an Illinois State assistant coach, mentoring the Redbirds’ defensive backs.
Maddie has been around the game, dabbling in it occasionally.
“It was backyard football, stuff at ISU,” she said. “But this is my first time playing football for real.”
A sophomore linebacker, Deti is a defensive leader on Normal Community High School’s first girls flag football team. Predictably, given her father’s area of expertise, she leads the Iron in interceptions.
“I’ve wanted to play football since I was little, so this is a really great opportunity to play with a bunch of my friends and I’ve met a lot of teammates from it,” said Deti, who also plays basketball and softball. “I came into this thinking it was just going to be my fall sport, but it’s really grown on me. I really love it.”
Deti is among 32 players on the Iron’s varsity roster. The junior varsity lists 24 players. The numbers exceeded expectations for head coach Matt Schweinberg.
Many of the players are multisport athletes, but some are participating in a sport for the first time.
“We were hoping if we had 20 on the varsity and 20 on the JV roster, that would be great,” Schweinberg said. “We ended up having close to 70 girls trying out, so we tried to keep as many as we could to make them part of this inaugural season.”
NCHS is among four Intercity schools fielding a girls flag football team for the first time, joining University High, Normal West and Bloomington. While some schools in Illinois debuted the sport last year, Bloomington-Normal schools hit the field this season.
“I honestly think it’s about time,” said U-High head coach Hayley Sefton. “The Chicago area and down by St. Louis and even out in California, they’ve had flag football for a long time. In my opinion, as much opportunity as we can give to the young ladies as possible is the best thing ever.
“I think us getting it here in Central Illinois, it’s just going to promote the sport more and give more opportunities to go play in college, right? Maybe they [players] are not doing it in another sport, but they could do it in this one. That is the most positive outcome you could possibly have.”
Normal Community receiver Campbell Damery is relishing the chance to play in high school. A varsity soccer player since her freshman year, Damery welcomes adding a new sport as a senior.
Unlike soccer, she can use her hands in this game. She’s done it well, even with one taped because of a jammed thumb.
“It’s been so much fun,” Damery said. “We’re all new to this, so it’s been fun to learn with all these girls and make new friends, too.
“There are some girls on our team who have never played a sport. It’s been fun to help them along and lead the way and show them what it’s like.”
NCHS clinched the Intercity championship Thursday with a 26-14 victory over U-High. The Iron previously defeated Normal West and Bloomington.
Schweinberg, a former basketball player at NCHS, only played football as a freshman. A longtime teacher and assistant basketball coach, he sought help from NCHS’ football staff upon landing the flag football position.
“I immediately went down to the football coaches office and Coach [Jason] Drengwitz and [Derek] Logue and [Dan] Murrin were extremely helpful and very generous with their time and helped us out quite a bit to get this thing started.
“Initially, we kept it very basic because we didn’t want to overwhelm our players with things. But we quickly found out how smart they are and how quickly they learn. We’ve been able to do quite a bit and keep adding more every week.”
NCHS boosted its record to 7-1 with a Saturday win over Joliet Central. Senior quarterback Bailey Engel was named The Pantagraph Athlete of the Week earlier this season after going 17-of-32 passing for 283 yards and four touchdowns in a game, plus rushing for 52 yards on five carries.
U-High had a 5-4 record following the game at NCHS, while Normal West entered the weekend 2-5 and Bloomington 0-6. The Pioneers outscored the Iron 14-7 after trailing 19-0 at halftime, leaving junior running back/receiver Lola Phillips upbeat afterward.
“It’s a cool experience to do this with a new group of girls and just connect. I think you’ll notice that we connect a lot,” Phillips said. “During practices, we’re all happy and we just find a rhythm to it. We didn’t come out with the victory that we wanted [against NCHS], but it’s fun to play a game that’s not normally girl-oriented.”
U-High senior center/receiver Theresa Burras considers basketball her primary sport. Her 6-foot-2 height … “still growing, too,” she said … is a plus on the court, but also in flag football. She caught numerous passes against NCHS, noting her height is “hard to guard.”
“I just love the opportunity to be out here with these girls,” Burras said. “We’re learning and growing together. It’s a really positive environment. I’m a little bummed that our first season was my senior year, so I’m not going to continue to watch this program grow. But I know we’re going to continue to pick it up from here and do great things.”
Flag football rules differ from traditional football. There are seven players on a side and no tackling, just “flag pulls.” When the ball hits the ground, it is blown dead, so no fumbles or fumble recoveries.
Also, with two minutes left in each half, play is stopped for the “two-minute notification.”
There are other differences as well, leaving parents to sort it out in the stands. Among them is Kim Eckhoff, whose daughter, Nicole, is a junior “viper” for U-High.
A viper?
“It’s the one player on the field who can be a quarterback, a receiver and a running back all at the same time,” Kim Eckhoff said. “Just to see how much fun they’re having and the learning curve is so steep for them … every game they just keep getting better and better.
“I think I learn something every game. I’m not sure if the rules are changing or I’m just a slow learner, but it’s been really fun for us parents to try and figure out how it goes.”
Campbell Damery’s mother, Heather, said her daughter and teammates “have so much joy on the field every time that it makes it fun to watch, whether they’re successful or not. Luckily, they’ve been super successful. It’s fun to see them all trying something new and having so much fun doing it.”
Younger eyes are seeing it too. Coaches, players and parents have been encouraged by the number of young girls attending games.
“I think locally in Illinois and nationally, the trajectory of flag football just seems to be taking off,” Schweinberg said. “I would expect it to continue to grow.”
Deti agreed, saying, “It’s eye opening to see how many girls really want to play football. This is a great opportunity for girls all over the community.”
