How Greenbrier's area flag football title shows sport is being taken more seriously
The road to Greenbrier’s flag football area championship began long before the season kicked off in October.
While a 12-6 win over Evans on Nov. 16 sealed the deal, a summer retreat to Camp Daniel Marshall in Lincolnton helped the Lady Pack find its identity.
“We did all kinds of fun games, activities, practice and that kind of thing,” coach Daniel Jordan said. “I really felt like when we were there, there was a moment on the second or third day that they really started enjoying each other and realizing it’s more than just flag football. We’re a team.”
In his second season, Jordan admitted that picking up the nuances of the sport took a bit longer than he envisioned, which played into their success this time around.
Greenbrier (14-1) cruised to an Area 8 championship, outscoring its opponents 339-43. The Lady Pack’s only loss came to Southeast Bulloch, which has arguably been one of the top teams in the nation the past couple of seasons.
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OK, not arguably; the Yellow Jackets haven’t lost a game in three years of competition, going 57-0.
“The coaching staff being here for two years definitely helps,” he said. “I think last year we had a lot of learning to do. We got humbled a little bit, mainly speaking about me. Flag football is such a different sport than football. In my mind, it was not that big of a transition. It was a bigger learning curve than I was expecting, to be honest.”
According to MaxPreps, Greenbrier is ranked No. 2 in Georgia behind Southeast Bulloch. Other ranked Augusta-area teams include Evans (12) and Lakeside (21).
Greenbrier hosts the first and second rounds of the Georgia High School Association 5A-6A state playoffs at the Wolf Den on Tuesday, Dec. 5. The first game is scheduled for 5 p.m. against Miller Grove (8-5).
Adjusted flag football playoff schedule
Prior to this year, the first round of the state playoffs began on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Under the new format, teams have two weeks between the end of the regular season and the postseason. While the long layoff could be alarming, Jordan said it’s welcomed.
“It’s hard to get everybody here for practice during Thanksgiving break,” he said. “You’ve got two playoff games, potentially three different teams that you’re trying to prepare for and you had one day of practice on that Monday. They didn’t ask me, but I much prefer the schedule that they moved to. It is a bit of a layoff, but it does give us much more time to prepare.”
What comes with that, however, is only one day between the second and third rounds. Meaning only one day to prepare for potential opponents.
“Basically you’d have to prepare for 16 different teams. Trying to study film and all that is pretty tough,” Jordan said. “Normally in sports you don’t want to look ahead, which you certainly don’t, but as coaches we’re trying to predict potential teams we could face and trying to learn about them now. If we don’t do that, we’ll end up saying we should’ve done some homework while we had the chance.”
At least for the first couple of rounds, the Lady Pack have the comfort of knowing they’ll be in their own backyard. While they could take time wondering how the bracket could shake out down the road, Jordan knows they’ll have to face the best before the end of it.
“Not having to travel is very big and hopefully, who knows how the seeding works out and who has the easiest path,” he said. “You always look at the bracket and how it could shake out, but at the end of the day, let’s try to be the best that we can every game and have that same mindset.”
Flag football continues to grow in Augusta, around the state
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With several more Augusta-area schools starting programs in 2023, the sport isn’t slowing down. That means a larger footprint for the sport and, likely, better competition. It’s important to note that it took four seasons for a team to win a second area title as Greenbrier (2020, 2023), Evans (2022) and Lakeside (2021) have all reached the top at one point or another.
Jordan expects that growth to reach further into the college ranks, not only because of the talent but also because of the community around the sport.
“There’s obviously some college flag football now, but I see it continuing to grow on that level with the massive popularity of it on our level and around the country,” he said. “It’s so good for the girls and the other coaches around the state, people are so generous with support and advice. I’ve had tons of help and that’s different than anything I’ve experienced in other sports. Everybody just wants the sport to succeed and keep it growing.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Greenbrier flag football area title shows sport is growing up in Georgia
