Women’s Flagball League hosts inaugural Summit Bowl with eyes on big 2027
The Women’s Flagball League hosted its inaugural game with the Summit Bowl on Sunday night at Pennington Field.
The Dallas Skyfire defeated the Fort Worth-Arlington Pilots 16-8 in a battle of the league’s first two teams.
The plan is for the league to officially kick off in 2027 with teams in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, California and other regions.
Flag football is a growing sport. The Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans have pushed for the University Interscholastic League to sanction flag football as an official high school sport.
Rosters were filled for the Summit Bowl after a combine June 6. The WFL is only open to athletes 18 and up, but the combine was made for athletes 16 and up to give them the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in front of college coaches.
The league features five-on-five play with two 20-minute halves, a running clock and traditional flag football rules.
The Summit Bowl was played after a lighting delay because of storms in the area. The game was a defensive contest with multiple turnovers from each team.
After the Summit Bowl, a high school showcase game was held, with Hurst L.D. Bell defeating Euless Trinity 40-21. Each team had a Team USA gold medalist and world champion at quarterback in Vanita Krouch (Trinity) and Marlee Marquez (L.D. Bell).
The game was the opposite as the first with the offenses putting up points. Some tensions flared between coaches at the end of the game, and the Trinity coach had to be pulled away to stop the conversation.
“The future of flag football is incredibly bright,” WFL commissioner Dr. Marjorie Herrera Lewis said in a statement before the event. “Having Team USA world champions Vanita Krouch and Marlee Marquez quarterback these outstanding high school athletes perfectly represents what the Summit Bowl is all about — creating opportunities, inspiring young athletes, and growing the game. I would have loved an opportunity like this when I played two-hand touch back in my high school days.”
