Del Oro flag football already the biggest girls sport on campus

The newest girls sport at Del Oro High School is already the biggest. The Golden Eagles had 65 girls on the first day of practice Monday afternoon to try their hand at flag football, which plays its inaugural season this fall. Head coach Steve Birch said Del Oro would have 15-20 players during summer workouts so he was surprised with the strong turnout on day one. "We've had great numbers so far and can have even more. There are about 15 girls right now still playing club softball or soccer or something," Birch said. "We have enough players that we are doing both a JV and varsity team." The turnout should come as no surprise for those familiar with the football culture at Del Oro, as the program has become synonymous with success. Birch knows the culture well as a longtime assistant for the Golden Eagles and part of multiple Sac-Joaquin Section and state championship runs. He said he hopes to bring that culture to the girls program. "We just want to get the girls an authentic football experience. We want them to be treated like football players and get all the things that you see the boys get with the Friday night lights," Birch said. "We've had so many people in the community help us out and they already have embraced it. I just think that once we get going, it's gonna be really exciting." Del Oro held quarterback tryouts on the second day of practice and had plenty of talent to choose from, as 32 girls attended in hopes of being the first gunslinger in program history. Birch talked about the state of the sport already, noting he sees it only growing and feels it can be one of the most popular girls sports. "I really see this becoming the biggest women's sport in the state if it continues to grow the way we've seen it grow already," Birch said. "We are going to try to be as flexible as possible. In the first year, there's gonna be a lot of bumps in the road, but we just want the girls to have a great time, have a ton of fun and learn about the game." Del Oro begins its season Aug. 21 at home against Christian Brothers before hosting the first Larry Wyatt Memorial Tournament on Aug. 26. "We are doing some exciting things with our tournament and we're gonna try to create scholarships out of that for some girls," Birch said. "The girls are excited. They're ready to be playing football."