“I can’t I have Flag”
For the first time this fall, “I can’t, I have Flag” was a legitimate reason to be busy. Last season, Flag Football was added to the teams’ roster as Branksome Hall joined CISAA’s Senior Girls Flag Football League – a circuit that has been around for 3 years. Our team faced Crestwood, Havergal, St. Anne’s, BSS, Holy Name of Mary, and Lakefield throughout the season, finishing in an “insanely disputed” third place. Regardless of the final result, Flag undoubtedly brought something new to Branksome athletics.
There are a few cults within our Branksome community, namely: MUN, Rowing, and Debate – and it’s safe to say Flag now joins that list. Countless times one would walk by Mr. Amadio and Mr. Mercuri’s office only to find the Flag team reviewing plays on the floor with a notebook. Or you may have seen the “Are the dogs in the house?” hype cheer that circulated online from the Flag game huddles. Grade 11’s very own Lucy Bickley, who has been on numerous BH teams such as badminton, basketball, softball, ultimate frisbee, and track and field, said: “Flag Football is the best team I have ever been on.” But what made this new team so special?
Determined to find out, I interviewed the team’s coaches Mr. Mercuri and Mr. Amadio to get their take. In this 20-minute interview, some wholesome facts came to light that perhaps answer this question.
Excitement sparks excitement
Given Flag was a new team when asked if they were worried whether or not Branksome would buy into the sport, Mr. Amadio and Mr. Mercuri did admit that they were nervous when Ms. Flynn brought to them the potential of a team. But, because of their love of football, they jumped on the idea: “We love football. We loved football prior to this opportunity; it’s a big part of who we are so we wanted others to see how exciting football can be,” said Mr. Mercuri. “Not just Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcee,” added Mr. Amadio, “but real football.” Despite their apprehension, 60+ students showed up to tryouts. Mr. Mercuri said they knew they ran the risk of “kids being excited then learning how complicated football can be and then opting out.” But that was not the case at all.
Trust the process
Likely anyone on the Flag team will admit: that their first game was “rough”. Amongst the tryout pool, there was very little experience in football. In truth, the team only had a mere three tryouts to establish the roster and only one full-team practice before they took the field for their first game against Crestwood’s A-Team. “The learning curve from Game 1 was huge. The first time we took the field, we didn’t necessarily know exactly where to stand, some of the rules, the flow of the game, spacing, timing, all that stuff… kudos to our team, they jumped at the opportunity,” as Mr. Amadio described – it was only up from there. “But, they were able to adapt so quickly for the second game in the tri-meet and we won,” Mr. Mercuri went on to add: “Seeing the whole team celebrate in the end zone after our first win was awesome. And we didn’t know when our first win was going to come, because we also didn’t know the competition. We just thought ‘Oh great every team has been in the league for three years so this will be a developmental year for us,’ but as soon as the kids had that confidence from the second game, nothing really stopped all year, it just got better and better.” Regardless of it being Branksome’s first year of Flag, the team never treated it as a developmental year.
Commitment
In truth, it takes a lot for Grade 11s and 12s to want to sacrifice their precious study hours and put their energy and effort towards an entirely new sport. This fact reveals just how special Flag was to the team, how badly they wanted to win, and how truly fun the game was. When asked what they thought makes Flag different from other teams at Branksome, Mr. Mercuri and Mr. Amadio had this to say: “The player’s commitment and eagerness to succeed stood out. This particular group coming together made such a great core group – the ideal way to start a new program, setting the current season and the future of the program up for success. We had some amazing Grade 12s who lead both on and off the field… we also had a solid core group of Grade 10 and 11 students who will be able to continue that culture moving forward for next year and the year after that and the year after that,” said Mr. Amadio. Mr. Mercuri agreed: “What makes it different is having that blend of Grade 12s through Grade 10s, knowing the 10s can learn leadership from the older students and they can carry that with them as they develop… and I think their passion is key too. The team would be there early for practice setting up in the dark, we would be there after practice kicking around and throwing with the students who had spares. The students really enjoyed it and made the season a success.”
Development
The coaches had a clear picture of the culture they envisioned for the team. Mr. Amadio said: “I was looking for team players; people that had confidence and brought positive energy that could help build up the new program; eager to learn, aggressive on the field, and had commitment.” Mr. Mercuri emphasised consistency saying: “Being consistent is key. Learning the routes, why we run the routes, why we develop plays,” – and consistently show up the team did. And as the season progressed the coaches noted that the environment that they were looking for came to life as the team fully embraced the sport. “We could not have asked for a better group of students, they all were so amazing and all of the success we had this year was because of them,” said Mr. Amadio.
One of my favourite parts of the interview was, in true ‘proud parent-esc’ fashion, Mr. Mercuri explained how the team started to make the game their own: “… our first couple of games, for offence, my job was to say a couple of words to our quarterback and her job is to say those words to the huddle, break it down, and then everyone knows where they are running based on those keywords. Our QB Chelsea – everything I said she would run it properly, throw it where she needed to. But then as the season progressed, she was coming to me and saying “I am seeing this on the field”, “This is open”, and “Let’s call this play because they’ll be there.” Her progress of understanding where the defence is lining up, what she is seeing out there, and her confidence to see their weakness and attack it – I was like if you see it, call it, let’s roll with it. That was a good moment.” The team’s understanding and confidence grew enabling them to be able to suggest the plays they knew they could execute. Mr. Amadio noted that: “Each player is unique and they each brought their own flair and their own skill set to the team; combine them all together and it makes a successful program.”
True progress
As with all worthwhile things, progress for the team was not linear. When asked about their proudest moment or a highlight of the season, it turned out one of their proudest moments as coaches was also one of the toughest for the team: “The whole year for me was filled with proud moments. One, in particular, occurred during the quarter-final game, we were up 13-nothing with 3:40 left in the game. We felt comfortable knowing that we were going to the semi-finals. But momentum in football can change so quickly. St. Anne’s tied the game on the last play of the game: 13-all and heading to overtime. Our team was feeling low, you could tell the emotions were down,” Mr. Mercuri recalled, “And then they just regrouped as a team and individual leaders brought the team together; got everyone to refocus, reset, and we ended up winning in the 5th overtime. Just seeing the girls go crazy for their first playoff win at home with all their parents watching was a really good moment.” Mr. Amadio agreed: “To see the pure joy and excitement– for our players to work so hard and then accomplish their goal as a team was simply the best. We were so proud of and happy for our team.”
All the way
Towards the end of the season, Branksome had established themselves as a team to be reckoned with. Going into the semi-final game, my anonymous sources leaked a sly video from the hype-up talk. In their final huddle before the semi-final match, Mr. Mercuri said: “Imperfections in the game are what allows us to understand our mistakes and appreciate our success; it’s all about imperfections. That’s what is such a beautiful thing about football because we always get better. The second part of that is that everyone has a different perspective of what perfect means so whatever your perfect is, just be that today because that is enough to win this game. For me [Mr. Mercuri], Mr. Amadio, our ‘perfect’ is this circle. We have the perfect team to win a championship, plain and simple. Last night I couldn’t sleep, not because I am worried about Crestwood, not because I am worried about Havergal. It’s because today is the last day that we, as a team, get to play together. And that is sad but super exciting. You guys are so fun so just have fun out there today. Trust yourselves, trust each other… We are no longer this new team in the league. We are the team you need to beat if you want to get to the championship… We have no pressure, so just have fun. Everything will work out the way it needs to work out. No one believes in us besides us and that’s all we need to win this game.”
Branksome fought with this kind of mentality to the end. With a clear idea of what this team had become, I was compelled to ask the coaches: “Because football is generally regarded as a ‘guy’s sport’ – what is the significance or the importance of having a flag football team at an all-girls school?” To which Mr. Amadio said: “That is just another old barrier that we need to break down. There is nothing out there that says girls can’t be great. Our team is great and our players are great! You look at our league and you see how competitive it is; it’s great to see and now they’re having it in the Olympics in 2028… And the fact that there might be an old stigma saying football is a boy’s sport and you need to be ‘rough and tough’ to play– get rid of that. Our girls were so amazing at it this year and I am so excited for next season.”
So, while the final standings might not be what the team hoped for – best believe the coaches have already begun planning for the 2024 season. This team will be back even stronger and hungrier next year. As for the semi-final winning touchdown that the referee conveniently decided not to count, we’ll let you decide: was Chelsea in the end zone before her flag was pulled?
