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Sunday, February 23rd 2025, 6:13 pm
Girls flag football continues to grow in the metro, drawing interest from more female athletes than ever.
Strike League is Oklahoma City’s only girls’ flag football league and the head coach says every girl should have the opportunity to play regardless of their ability to pay.
“The community is great. Everyone’s like very nice to each other and everyone’s supportive,” Blair Goodger, a Strike League athlete, said.
Blair and her sister, Blythe, have been playing flag football with Strike League for more than a year.
“It’s just like really fun to play with … new people … and create new friends,” Blythe said.
It’s a sport that is gaining momentum on the national stage, but it’s hitting roadblocks at the local level.
“We have a lot of talented athletes, but we know that pay for play youth sports usually leaves, you know, athletes in the margins,” Strike League head coach Ben Ezugha said.
Right now, paying to play is the only way for girls to participate in flag football in OKC.
But, head coach Ben Ezugha wants the “Every Girl Must Play” scholarship fund to change that.
“We want to fund 30 girls to play. To no cost of their parents, their registration fees and their and their uniform fees and taken care of,” Ezugha said.
Officially, that cost is $217 per athlete for eight weeks of play.
“The more the merrier the more people that kick in, 10, 20, 30 bucks, 100 bucks,” Ezugha said.
Ezugha and the girls of Strike League have set their fundraising goal at $7,000 to hopefully give Blair and Blythe some new teammates.
“Yeah like girls can do anything it’s not just a boy sport,” Blair said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help raise money for the scholarships. To donate, click here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ever-girl-must-play-donate-to-our-scholarship-fund
Cameron Joiner joined the News 9 team as a Multimedia Journalist in January of 2023. Cameron was born and raised in Sugar Land, Texas, just outside of Houston. Though she is a Texan at heart she has fallen in love with Oklahoma. She came to the Sooner State to attend OU, where she majored in Broadcast Journalism.
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