Any Girls Flag Football Coaches Out There?

[AsianChexMix 0]

I was just wondering if there were any girls flag football coaches out there. I think it's hard for me to find information specifically for girls that may be an oversight compared to guys. I also think that it's hard to find specifics on 7 v 7 as most of you coaches deal with younger ages with small teams. So just combining them together, it's been rather interesting looking for info especially during the offseason. My question is 1) are there any girl's flag football coaches out there and 2) what are some of the differences you think would be a main difference compared to guys flag football other than the fact that guys can throw a whole lot better. Just trying to develop a game plan since I know most of our players will be playing next year.

[Orange 26]

I was just wondering if there were any girls flag football coaches out there. I think it's hard for me to find information specifically for girls that may be an oversight compared to guys. I also think that it's hard to find specifics on 7 v 7 as most of you coaches deal with younger ages with small teams. So just combining them together, it's been rather interesting looking for info especially during the offseason. My question is 1) are there any girl's flag football coaches out there and 2) what are some of the differences you think would be a main difference compared to guys flag football other than the fact that guys can throw a whole lot better. Just trying to develop a game plan since I know most of our players will be playing next year.

My first coaching gig was back in college where I coached a woman's team (many years ago). I think it was 7 on 7 also. Our team went undefeated during the regular season for the 2 seasons I coached (although we lost in the championship both times). Here are some things that I remember about the woman's team that was different:

We had very few that could catch anything at all. Actually we had one girl who could catch extremely well and she was our go-to receiver. Everyone else was very poor at catching. Our QB was OK, but she couldn't throw it that far either so basically our passing game was very limited.

Our team wasn't the only one with this passing liability but for some reason just about everyone was trying to throw the ball around. We went in a different direction, one that was controversial at times but effective. We ran two plays probably 70% of the time, option right and option left. In our league the QB could run and the defenders only had to line up 1 yard off the LOS to rush. We'd spread them out as best we could and the QB would run the option with the halfback. The reason it was controversial was because it was boring. We'd get stopped all the time and our players would get angry and say run something else. But we'd stick to it because of two facts: 1) We didn't turn the ball over like everyone else did and 2) eventually we'd bust out a long run. Pulling flags is paramount at all levels of flag and missing flags is what gets you to score.

From what I could see most of the women were not great flag pullers so my idea was to keep taking cracks downfield until something broke. We had a stout defense, one that I could trust so we'd just play field possession. We didn't score a ton but we did what it took to win.

Another thing I noticed watching women's games was the number of kick and punt returns that were ran back for long yards and scores. That prompted me to require my kicker to aim for the sidelines every time. My instructions went like this: "I don't care how far you kick it, just make sure it goes out of bounds. Even if it only goes 5 yards I want that ball out of bounds." I have a good kicker too that could get some distance and could aim it where I wanted her to kick.

Our option play was basically simple. We'd line the QB in shotgun and the halfback beside her. QB would get the snap and run towards the side of the play. When the defender came up on her she'd either try to cut inside or pitch to the trailing halfback. Our "trick" play was we'd direct snap to the halfback and she'd run the option the other way with the QB trailing. Sometimes we'd fake the option one way and run a naked bootleg the other way.

Looking back with my coaching experience now I'd probably get more creative but stick with the basic theme of running and probably doing some more short passing. The killer was the defenses ability to rush from 1 yard back, that blows up a lot of plays before they get started. Most teams would rush two players on either side of the center. Tell us more about your rules, that would be helpful. In our league you could only block behind the line of scrimmage and only with your hands behind your back. You basically were setting a moving pick which the defender had to run around. It wasn't active blocking with your arms/ hands. And downfield you could only set a stationary pick.

[Coach Rob 26]

other than the fact that guys can throw a whole lot better.

Hmm... you need to check out my lastest football vid, not sure I'd agree with your statement. ;-)

[Orange 26]

other than the fact that guys can throw a whole lot better.

Hmm... you need to check out my lastest football vid, not sure I'd agree with your statement. ;-)

Coach Rob has an excellent girl QB. I had one girl on my woman's college flag team that could catch as well as most of the guys. The problem is that these are the exceptions rather than the rule. If you get 12-15 girls together there might be a couple that stand out, but your average is going to be far lower than your standard boys team of that same age group. There are lots of factors for this not the least of which is that girls simply do not play football as frequently as boys (on average), not even close. I'd stick with running the ball and throwing short passes like a swingout pass towards the sideline. I'd love to have some soccer or lacrosse players on my team, girls who can run and cut. Just get the ball into their hands and let them run downfield.

[AsianChexMix 0]

You guys gave me a lot to chew on and digest which is great. The following are the rules last year's tournament and from what I heard are the general rules for several years now.

• 7 v 7 no contact (screen blocking) flag football
  
• Must have 3 offensive linemen, only one is eligible to receive
  
• 4 players must line up on the line of scrimmage (3 linemen + 1 other player)
  
• Motion is allowed as long as not going towards endzone
  
• Only one forward pass is allowed behind LOS
  
• 1 yard neutral zone where defense can line up (similar to your rules Orange)
  
• No returns from punts and there are no kickoffs (we start at the 15 and need to get to the next zone as our first)
  

From my first year coaching, I realized that I should have had a more run heavy offense utilizing misdirection. Our day long tournament conditions were nasty (for girls). It was cloudy as it had rained the previous night which made field conditions muddy. The temps were mid 30s with winds blowing 10-20 mph. It was so bad even our guys were having a hard time throwing it. So that literally threw out 2/3 of our playbook (we had 6 plays, 4 throws and 2 runs). I think this year, I am going to change that and reverse it where I will have an emphasis on running.

The interesting dynamic in my group of girls is that we have several great components but it compliments each other. We have a lightning fast girl who I put as RB. She can't catch. I have another girl who isn't as fast but has great hands. I have a our QB that can't throw but has great leadership and then I have a girl who can throw the ball but have no leadership. Then we have wide range of height (mainly Asian girls so yeah, majority of them are short) with varying skills and most of these girls, on average, can catch except our RB. She REALLY can't catch. I think that we have what it takes that with the right system and attitude, we can be a great team.

Looking at my offensive playbook, I'm thinking of having a run play that is almost identical with one another except the runner will be different and the blocking scheme will be different. For example, I'll be in standard I with RB behind QB and have WRs on opposites sides. Before the snap, a WR would go in motion and the ball would be snapped while in motion and then the QB would either hand off to WR in motion or the RB. I'm also thinking about implementing Wildcat as well. I think the only worries I have is if the blocks would give us enough time to create holes for our speedy RB or our WR to find. I think then I would have a few pass plays that would be set up by these runs. I'm thinking this may be complicated to learn but we start practices in September (tournament is in November).

Orange, could you describe your defense for me? I was thinking of running two different zones...one for passing and one for running. Basically, it would be 2:3:2 for passing (2 rushers, 3 short, 2 deep) and then 2:4:1 for run plays (2 rushers, 4 short, 1 safety). One thing I want is our rushers to create havoc on the field defensively. I want to be as nasty as we can with our swarming and our flag pulling. I think we will also need to learn how to recognize these misdirection plays and remain disciplined. I would like to be known as a bend but don't break defense so I'd really be interested in what kind of defense you ran.

Coach Rob, I saw some clips and I think I'll need to rephrase it. There aren't that many good girl throwers out there. Do they exist? Hahaha, yeah. We have video evidence and I have one on my team but generally speaking, girls can't throw the ball as well as guys.

[Johnp2 21]

I've not coached girls since 4-5 co-ed soccer, but being the father of a (now 7 year old) girl, I enjoyed coaching the girls---who do indeed bring a different mentality toward the game.

With that, our league is defined as co-ed, but I've faced maybe only 3 or 4 girls max in our league over the years. I will say that they were typically some of the best athletes on the field, and it's shown some of my guys (certainly my son) that girls can get after it in sports---which is a good learning experience for them.

My daughter has never shown an interest in sports, but I've talked with her about playing soccer--and will coach her team--and am very excited about it.