By Larry Moko
The Bishop Ryan Celtics capped the year with an exciting provincial junior girls' high school championship in the sport of flag football.
The inaugural tournament was held June 10 at McMaster University, hosted by Football Ontario and sponsored by the Buffalo Bills in partnership with NFL Canada.
There were about 400 participants -- in separate junior and senior divisions -- on over 30 teams from 11 different school boards across the province.
In the final, Bishop Ryan topped the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals, 6-2, in a battle between two Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic schools.
"I'm very proud of our young women," Celtics coach Jim Davies said. "They competed hard all day and excelled."
After its three pool games and a first-place finish, Bishop Ryan rolled to playoff victories over Barrie and Ottawa to qualify for the title match.
"The final was played in a rainstorm," Davies added.
The BR junior roster was comprised of Matilda Clara, Lilah Cooke, Juliana Ruiu, Athena Menna, Maliya Gooding, Charlotte Kirkopolous, Emily Davies, Kaya Fournel, Cali Genest, Amelia Villeneuve, Zoe Zvnor, Arianna Cannon and Sienna Maga.
"Our execution of offensive plays was effective," Davies said."There were a few players who were very good at avoiding being flagged. Whereas, on defence, I thought we were one of the best teams at flagging. So that's the difference. If you can get the flags you can stop people, but if you miss it's often a big play."
Flag football uses a 40-yard field, which is narrower and shorter than for touch. A team has four plays to get over half and then four plays to score.
"It's a smaller field, so it's action packed," Davies said. "Everyone is involved."
The Most Valuable Player of the tournament was Emily Davies, the BR quarterback.
"She only threw one interception all day in relation to 11 touchdowns," Davies said of his daughter's performance. "That's a great ratio.
"When needed, she was able to beat some rushers to buy some time and throw accurate passes."
Defensively, coaches pointed Clara, Ruiu, Kirkopolous, Zvonar and Cannon as being standouts.
Davies coached various types of football at Bishop Ryan this season. He was field boss for the senior boys' tackle squad in the fall and recently guided the BR varsity boys to the St. Thomas More touch football tournament championship.
"Young women absolutely love flag football and they prefer it," he said. "The sport is booming. There were scouts here from colleges and universities. They now are offering scholarships for flag football in Ontario and the states."
Flag, it also should be noted, makes its debut as an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
"I'm a firm believer that flag football is the future," Davies said. "The kids coming up from elementary school are playing flag. Then they get here and they're expected to play touch."
Annamaria Misale, an assistant coach along with Josh Camera and Patrick O'Brien, said: "This win is more than just a championship but a celebration of the rapid growth of girls' flag football in the province. The coaches are extremely proud of the girls' hard work and determination.
"We had over 100 sign up and try out for girls' football. Our team was made up of some of the best talent in the province. We are excited for the future of girls' flag football in our school and our board."
Bishop Ryan also advanced to the semifinal round of the senior division before bowing out.
