My name is Ava Felix, and I am part of the girl’s flag football team. The reason that I even decided to play flag football was because I have always wanted to play football, even as a little girl but I just could not because either it was only for boys or because my parents were scared of me getting hurt. Opening the new sport to LBHS made my dream possible and allows opportunities for girls who want to play football just like I do. 

As one of the first people to join the Flag football team for Los Banos High School, it feels good knowing that I’m a part of the start of something new. I will admit that I was nervous going into a new sport that I didn’t know much about. I was worried that I would not be able to get the hang of the game or to even have a lot of playing time on the field. I was excited though that a lot of my friends have joined the team and it caused us to become closer during practices and games. The team’s effort is very important to me because we all put in the time and cheer for each other. 

A big part of playing flag football is working as a team and preparing myself before the games. Something that motivates me before each game is listening to music and just thinking about the game. The team gets motivated when we all come together and go over the plays and think about taking the win. When any of the girls feel stressed or get nervous, we all love to hype each other up. 

I found out about flag football at sports awards last year and immediately knew I wanted to play. The sport physically isn’t super hard on my body but I definitely still feel a little sore after games. We practice Monday through Thursday unless we have a game on Thursdays and we practice for an hour and a half.

By the end of the season my goal is to just learn the plays better and become a better player.