The Kamehameha Schools Maui girls flag football team poses for a photo after making it to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association’s state tournament. This was the inaugural season for the sport, and the Warriors went undefeated during the regular season to win the Maui Interscholastic League championship. Courtesy photo

Kamehameha Schools Maui completed a perfect regular season en route to claiming the first-ever Maui Interscholastic League championship in girls flag football, as Hawaii and teams across Maui welcomed the sport’s inaugural season.

KS-Maui, Baldwin, Lahainaluna, King Kekaulike, Kulanihakoi, Lanai, Maui High and Molokai all fielded teams as this was the first year girls flag football has been a sanctioned sport with the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.

Leading the way in the MIL, the Warriors earned the league championship by winning all nine of their regular-season games, including two nail-biting victories against Baldwin, before moving on to the state tournament April 30-May 3 on Oahu.

“Overall, girls flag football has been an amazing experience for the island of Maui,” Warriors coach Kaeo Ripani said before going to state. “Every team in the MIL has been so positive that I can see this league growing and exceeding in the very near future.”

Ripani has seen the sport growing rapidly at the collegiate level and across the nation, and he’s excited about the expanding opportunities for Maui’s female athletes.

According to the Associated Press, with flag football’s inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics serving as the most recent bump, participation by girls has continued to spike across the country. The NFL has been a staunch supporter.

According to National Federation of High Schools data, 14 states have girls’ flag football as a sanctioned sport with 42,955 players nationwide during the 2023-24 school year. That figure doesn’t include club or intramural participation either.

About half a million girls ages 6 to 17 play the sport in some organized form, and more than 100 higher-educational institutions, either in the NCAA, the NAIA or the junior college level, are now offering women’s flag football as a varsity or club sport, according to the NFL.

The NAIA was on board first with sanctioned competition that began in 2021. There are 16 schools currently supporting an NCAA varsity program, with at least 20 more teams expected to start in 2026. Earlier this year, the NCAA recommended women’s flag football be designated an emerging sport.

A championship team

KS-Maui fielded a full flag football roster with 25 girls on the team this season. The Warriors went on to win all nine of their regular-season games, including a 9-6 win against Baldwin on April 12 and then a 13-7 win against Baldwin on April 19 to secure the league championship.

“Baldwin is a great team hands down,” Ripani said. “They’re well coached. They have great athletes. That team is one that you have to bring your A-plus game in order to come out with a victory. Baldwin is just a juggernaut, you know, and we had to dig deep in order to pull out those victories because Baldwin is such a great team.”

According to Ripani, there were a lot of strong teams across the MIL, and KS-Maui was fortunate to have a number of outstanding two-way players on offense and defense such as team captains Journey Hett and Myla Tuitele, as well as Sofia Abernathy and Evalani Keawekane.

“(Hett) is a starting receiver and she is also one of our defensive players on the field as a corner,” Ripani said. “She’s been our leader on the field and off the field, as well as being someone that is just positive leadership for us.”

Ripani also highlighted Tuitele as a team leader on offense and defense, and the coach applauded Kamea Abreu, who leads the team in interceptions, for her great ball-hawking skills. Another key player for the Warriors this season was senior Raeji-Li Librando.

“She’s been huge for us,” Ripani said. “She’s not only one of our leading receivers, she’s our punter, and she’s a weapon who can change the ball to the other side of the field and it gives us our defense more field to play with.”

Like many of her teammates, Sophia Abernathy is also a multi-sport athlete, and Ripani said she “is hands down, bar none on the fastest player” he’s seen on the field.

“And her partner in crime on the other side is Leimomi Hokoana-Molinas,” the coach said. “Those two girls that we rely a lot on the defense to put pressure on the QB.”

Kayla Baptist was also critical on defense for KS-Maui, and Evalani Keawekane was a great addition after she returned from an injury. On offense, the Warriors relied heavily on receiver Brookyln Urayanza, Raejia-Li Librando, Tyra Shimizu and Rylee Souza as they ran the tables and won the league title.

For the league championship, the game came down to the last play in overtime when KS-Maui scored on a pass from Shimizu to Hett.

“It was excitement, amazing, you know, everything you can think of being able to win the championship,” Ripani said.

The Lahainaluna girls flag football team poses for a photo. Courtesy photo

A new era of Luna athletics

The athletics landscape for girls is evolving in exciting new ways at Lahaina, with coaches Iolani Kaniho and Todd Rickard leading the Lunas’ girls flag football team. In the inaugural season, Kaniho and Rickard said they are proud and excited to be leading the way for the new program.

“We coach the Lahainaluna girls basketball team, and we decided to coach girls flag football since we have so many years of coaching experience coaching girls,” Kaniho said. “Coach Todd has been coaching the Lahainaluna girls program for about 30 years now. We’ve built our program into one of the top programs in the state, and we want to do the same with girls flag football. We had several of our basketball players come out for flag football and they convinced several of their friends to come try it out as well.”

Kaniho and Rickard are both alumni of Lahainaluna, having played football during their time as students. Not only have they experienced the game as athletes, but they also bring coaching experience from boys tackle and flag football.

This year marked a new chapter for Luna athletics, as the pair transitioned into coaching girls flag football — a unique opportunity to help build something that could become a lasting legacy for the school, the athletic department and the athletes themselves.

As the season came to a close, the Lunas finished with 14 players who excelled in the newly introduced sport. The program presented a new opportunity to expand athletic offerings for female athletes, and it marked the first time in over 20 years that a new girls sport has been added to the school system.

Reflecting on the first season, Coach Kaniho said there was a lot of curiosity about everything from recruitment to team dynamics, game play, successes and community support with the sport being so new to everyone on Maui. With aspirations, hard work and dedication, Kaniho believes that this growing opportunity for female athletes has the potential to turn into something special for the future.

“This first year was pretty cool,” Kaniho said. “We were interested in seeing how it would go. The support from the communities and seeing how the crowds got bigger and bigger throughout the season was awesome. We believe that this sport is only scratching the surface of what it could be. We feel that this will be the fastest growing sport, and in five years, it will be the most popular girls sport.”

Looking ahead, the coaches said they are grateful for everything that has been built in this first year. They have lifted up each of the girls, many of whom had never played football before joining the team.

Coach Kaniho highlighted quarterback Juseana Rae Delatori, who despite already committing to a basketball scholarship, came out to give football a try — and performed impressively. Quarterback is one of the toughest positions on the field, and for someone new to the sport to find success so quickly was great to see. With a roster that includes two seniors, one junior and a strong group of freshmen, the future of flag football looks bright for the Lunas.

“One of our freshmen, Huaka’i Ka’a’a had a game where she had three interceptions in the first half and returned all three of them for touchdowns,” Kaniho said.

The Lahainaluna girls flag football team poses for a photo. Courtesy photo

Courtesy photo

KS-Maui opens state with shutout victory

After winning the league championship, KS-Maui defeated Hilo 46-0 in the opening round of the state tournament.

Tuitele started the scoring for the Warriors with a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Shimizu completed seven of her 13 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns including a 60-yard TD to Librando.

Urayanza and Kawena Cabanting also caught TD passes, and Ariano Oshiro ran for a 5-yard TD and threw for 81 yards including a 23-yard pass to Cabanting for another score. Keawekane also returned an interception for a touchdown. On defense, Tuitele had a sack, punt block and two tackles. Kilihea Lee added two sacks, and the defense had four interceptions combined.

Points were harder to come by when KS-Maui faced Punahou in the quarterfinal round and fell 12-0. Shimizu was 14-for-28 passing for 121 yards. On defense, Tuitele had seven tackles and Lee had five tackles and two sacks. Keawekane recorded six tackles and two interceptions.

In the consolation bracket, KS-Maui closed out its season with a 21-6 loss to Moanalua. The Warriors scored first in the game on a 3-yard pass from Shimizu to Souza.

Baldwin notches one win, two losses in playoffs

Finishing second in the MIL, Baldwin took the league’s second slot in the state playoffs. The Bears fell in the first round against Campbell, which would go on to win the state championship.

In the 27-18 defeat, Baldwin’s Kyli Kapalu Kamaka completed 11 of her 19 passes for 76 yards with a TD and two INTs. Kailea Moniz also played well, completing 9 of her 12 passing attempts for 188 yards, two TDs and no interceptions.

Kili Kamake’eaina led Baldwin with 98 receiving yards and a TD. Tatiana Mafatini had 39 yards receiving with two TDs. Kamake’eaina also had a game-high seven tackles on defense.

In the consolation bracket, Baldwin beat Waiakea 40-8. After a scoreless first quarter, the Bears piled up 20 points in the second and 13 in the third while holding Waiakea scoreless. In the game, Moniz and Kamaka each threw for more than 100 yards, and Moniz had four TDs and Kamaka had one.

Kamake’eaina had 122 yards receiving with a TD and Jada Smith had 56 yards receiving with two TDs. Mafatini and Journey Corn also caught TD passes. Baldwin recorded 340 yards of total offense while holding Waiakea to 117 yards. Kamake’eaina also had a game-high six tackles.

The Bears’ playoff run came to an end in the following round with Waianae taking a 25-6 win.

A bright future

With a strong start to a bright future, girls flag football is helping to elevate female sports and empower young athletes across Maui by offering a new opportunity that was once traditionally seen as a male-dominated sport.

By embracing this new opportunity, they are creating a thrilling atmosphere and setting the tone for a new legacy, ready to leave a lasting footprint for generations to come.

“The other schools, you can see it, you can see they are going to be tough for years to come,” Ripani said.