In its first year of play, the newly formed Warren G. Harding Raiders Girls Flag Football Team is already making an impact both on and off the field.
The team wrapped up its first season with a 6-2 record, earned its way to Cleveland after qualifying for the fourth annual Northeast Ohio Girls Flag Football Tournament at Huntington Bank Field.
The 20-plus member team, coached by Justin Blair and Matthew Sheely, was among 16 teams competing for a girls’ flag football championship.
“It’s a big deal to me because my siblings get to see their little sister doing something they did,” Provitt said.
The Raiders went 1-1 in the tournament, ending their season just shy of the ultimate goal. The Warren G. Harding High School students competed against teams made up of player who have been in the game, in many cases, a lot longer than they have.
“I really didn’t know what to expect when I first started coaching this team. But I’m really proud. Just seeing how far we came from March to now was incredible. I wanted the girls to have fun and learn what it was like to come together as a team,” said Blair, the team’s head coach. “But they’ve by far outreached my highest expectations. They’ve been a great team.”
Their success on the field speaks for itself but it’s the bond they’ve built off of it that’s keeping them connected.
Quarterback Jaleah Provitt, a junior, said she was amazed by how the team came together.
“I’m very proud because nobody expected us to win at all. Nobody expected us to make it to the playoffs,” Provitt said. “But we did and that’s really something. And it was a lot of fun.”
Senior Ky’ziya Minor said she had never even been to the Cleveland Browns Field prior to playing there on May 12.
“That was crazy, being on the Cleveland Browns Field … so many people there. Families there, screaming and cheering. It felt like I was at a real football game,” she said. “That was so beyond anything … that was something!”
