Sydney Brice, a junior and founder of the Abington Senior High School girls flag football team, was featured on KYW Newsradio today about the growing popularity of the sport.

Her teammate, junior quarterback Maya Johnson, was featured today by NBC10 for the same reason.

As a sophomore, Brice played a key role in bringing the sport to Abington and worked with coaches to make it a reality. She went to school counselor Melissa Brizzell, now head coach, and asked if the Ghosts could put a team together for the 2023 season.

Some time later, she was part of a team that went a perfect 9-0 in their first-ever season as a participant in the Philadelphia Eagles-sponsored league, taking home the Eagles Girls Flag Football Championship trophy in May 2023.

“Four years later, I’ve had so many opportunities that I wouldn’t have gotten with any other sport,” Brice told KYW. “I’ve met so many people from all around the country. It was honestly one of the best decisions of my life.”

Johnson was honored with a Mini Max Award on Sunday for her role as one of the program’s founding members.

“It feels amazing,” she told NBC10. “I feel like I’m a part of the Eagles… they give us this opportunity to play on the field.”

According to KYW, the Eagles are expanding their Girls Flag Football League from 52 teams to 92, the Philly league is increasing from 38 teams to 65, and the South Jersey league is increasing from 14 teams to 27.

In all, 2,300 participants are spread out across six leagues in both states, KYW said.

“They’re really enjoying their time while they’re playing,” Dan Levy, Eagles youth football and community relations manager, said. “They’re seeing their friends playing and they’re going to their athletic directors and saying, ‘Can we get girls flag football at our school?’ And so that part has just been so cool.”

The Eagles franchise is also donating thousands of their signature FLY:FWD sports bras. Each girl gets two, and each team gets an NFL flag kit, a port-a-field, custom Nike uniforms, and a $3,000 stipend.

“Last year, we provided 30,000 sports bras to girls here in the Philadelphia area,” said Levy. “This coming year, we’re going to provide another 30,000 sports bras. It’s really all to make sure that if a girl wants to play sports, they have the ability to do so, whether that’s football or anything else.”

To listen to the newscast featuring Brice, you can click here.

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Photos: ASD