The excitement was palpable, not just for the fourth-annual Girls Flag Football Jamboree, but there was also a lot of anticipation for a big change this year for the sport.
This fall will be the first state-sanctioned high school girls flag football season in Illinois.
"The biggest difference is you can't tackle, but it's still just as physical as football," Whitney Young High School coach Valerie Spann said. "You still have to run your routes. You have to play aggressive defense. This is a big deal. It's been a long time coming. I knew it would come at some point, but not as soon as it came."
Wendell Phillips Academy high school senior Cherish Sanders started playing football in fifth grade with the boys, she said.
"I think it's very exciting. I feel like now we get to show out and show everybody our talent," Sanders said.
She and her teammates said they have witnessed the female sport grow in popularity.
"I love it. It's my life," Wendell Phillips Academy high school senior Iycis Hardin said. "I would do anything for the sport, anything for my team, coach people... anything somebody needs. This is just my sport."
Now, it is an official IHSA-sanctioned sport, with more than 150 Girls Flag Football teams who will be competing across the state.
READ MORE | Girls flag football sanctioned as official sport in Illinois, IHSA announces
"We started the league in 2021, and the development from now to this year, you can see the confidence level, you can see them talk the language," CPS Girls Flag Football Coordinator Juliana Zavala said.
The league continues to expand each year, they said, creating more opportunities for female athletes.
"For people who don't have outlets, they could use this as an outlet sport," Sanders said. "I know some girls don't want to play football, they think it's only a boy sport, but flag football helps girls who want to achieve getting somewhere with flag football in life."
The season officially starts August 12, with the first game happening the week of August 26.
"We belong here. It is real," Lane Tech High School coach Caroline Schwartz said. "Now everybody can recognize it as real, not just us."