The girls flag football team attended the Los Angeles Rams Flag Football Jamboree on Saturday, Sept. 7 and played which was hosted at the University of Los Angeles (UCLA). The team attended a women in sports conference then played two games against schools outside of their division.
After two weeks of no practice due to excessive heat, the girls flag football team was tasked with the challenge to participate in the 2024 Los Angeles Rams Flag Football Jamboree. This jamboree is an annual event that started in 2023, when most high schools, including Van Nuys, added flag football as an official sport.
This year, with a numerous number of schools adopting the sport, over 60 flag football teams were present from schools around California. Schools like Garfield High School from East Los Angeles and Westlake High School from Westlake Village California.
The Lady Wolves arrived at the UCLAs campus around 9:45 a.m. and began to take in their surroundings. The Rams had coordinated with companies like Gatorade, Pacsun and Nike which had booths set up where athletes could take photos, get freebies, make buttons and buy candy.
The team then headed to the hall where the Women in Sports panel would be held. The panel was hosted by Kirsten Watson, a reporter and host of the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as the Los Angeles Rams. Watson was able to interview five women who have continued to make a difference behind the scenes for women in sports and discuss their road to success.
The interviewees were Dr. Laura Tully, the Vice President of Clinical Integrations, Jaime Riley, the chief operating officer of USA football, Patricia Ibarra, the division technical education partner of Bridgestone, Adeline Scov, the director of the U.S. consumer marketing of Align and lastly, Erica Tamposi who is the host and content creator for the Los Angeles Rams.
This panel was filled with inspiring stories from each woman.
The panel concluded around an hour later and the students were let out for an hour lunch. Free pizza and gatorade were given to each team. There were also food trucks with other paid meal options.
After lunch, the Lady Wolves played their first game.
Their first game started at 2:45 p.m. against Mayfair High School. Disappointedly, the Mayfair Monsoons came out victorious, beating the Wolves 36-0. The first game was filled with many interceptions by the opposing teams defense, which unfortunately helped the Monsoons team easily get the 36 point.
The next game began at 3:30 p.m. against Windward High School.
Compared to the first match, the Lady Wolves performed much better. Their defense and coordination were on point. Unluckily for them, their offense wasn’t matching the opposing teams defense, resulting in a 30-0 defeat for the Wolves.
According to defensive player Senior Linda Valencia, the team was disappointed with their performance but were enthusiastic about getting better for future games.
“The team left the UCLA campus with a feeling of sorrow because we knew that we could have done much better,” she said.
Although the team lost both games, they were able to see it as a learning experience, finding strategies on how to do better for the next game. The team is currently practicing everyday to make sure that a tragic loss like that never occurs again.
