Last year, Coaches Erica Harris and Tanisea Coleman helped introduce a new sport that grabbed the attention of many girls at Chamblee High School—flag football.

“I had an interest meeting and I had about 40 to 50 girls that signed up [. . .] out of those 40 to 50 [girls], 24 are on the team now,” said Harris. 

This new addition to Chamblee’s sports has been no exception when it comes to its team spirit.

“We do a lot of team building. They help each other out, [so] it’s pretty much a one-band, one-sound type of group. They’re learning that they’re all one body, one unit, and that they have to move together in order to succeed,” said Coleman. 

As the first scrimmage and game approaches for the flag football team, they are giving their all in practice sessions. 

“[They’ve] been scrimmaging against one another, making sure that they get to the scrimmage line, fast. We’ve been doing a lot of running, like sprints, just to get their bodies used to the high-flying game that it is going to be in a couple of weeks. And trying to get their mentality focused on what [they] need to do and to not quit,” said Harris.

While the players recognize that this is their first year of flag football as a team, they are not backing down simply because of this fact.

“We’re working on drills, [since] we have never done this before, [so] we are working on defense and offense in drills to get us prepared for our first game,” said Emi Sarago (‘25).

They have been training very hard in order to achieve excellence in the games to come. 

“We’ve been doing drills, workouts, [and] conditioning to prepare the team. Our coaches also [have] been making us watch videos of other players and teams to try to figure out their weaknesses and learn our strengths,” said Acelyn Bredemeier (‘27). 

The players have also been creating bonds to help each other as the season progresses.

“[We’re trying] to keep [the team] in a good mood, because when you’re in a bad mood, you’re not playing well,” said Lara Smith (‘26).

Although this is all new to everyone on the team, they hope to have a good season and are enjoying it thus far.

“I like all my team members because they’re all super nice, and I love learning a new sport that I can have fun in,” said Madelyne Merritt (‘27).

Overall, the girls are hopeful for the season ahead, no matter the outcome.

“I don’t really expect anything,” said Merritt. “I just hope we all have fun and [that] we’re all nice to each other and we have a great season.”