Jets launch Special Olympics NJ Unified flag football league at Florham Park clinic
FLORHAM PARK — As the final seconds ticked down, Katie Schmitt counted them off.
"Three... two... one..." When the buzzer sounded, she raised her arms.
Schmitt, a 19-year-old from Morristown, was running through drills at the New York Jets' training facility to celebrate the launch of New Jersey's newest flag football league.
The NFL team already sponsors the North Jersey girls' flag league, which is in its fourth season. On Wednesday, the Jets and Special Olympics New Jersey introduced a new Unified high school league.
Unified programs blend athletes with intellectual disabilities and neurotypical partners. There are more than 250 Unified Champion schools in New Jersey, supported through funding from the U.S. and state education departments.
Morristown, Morris Knolls, Roxbury and West Orange will play six regular-season games in the pilot program. The Jets will host the playoffs back at Florham Park on May 29.
"It was so good. I'm tired," Schmitt said. "I've never done this before."
Her younger brother Noah Schmitt is a junior wide receiver and defensive back for Morristown, and helped his classmates go through offensive and defensive drills on Wednesday.
"They don't really get to do this kind of stuff," he said. "Getting to see them, it's a big event."
More: Special Olympics Unified sports give athletes a stage. But is the program inclusive enough?
Steady growth of NJ flag football
Girls' flag football was defined as a club in New Jersey for its first three seasons, but has been upgraded to "pilot sport" status by the NJSIAA for at least the next two years. Nine states sponsored 913 girls flag football teams in 2022-23, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations survey, with 361 in Florida, 198 in Georgia and 138 in New York.
The Jets sponsor nearly 200 high school girls flag programs across New Jersey, lower New York State and Long Island – including the North Jersey league, which has grown from the original eight to 52 teams. There were 83 New Jersey schools with flag programs last spring, according to NJSIAA Executive Director Colleen Maguire.
Jefferson, Montville, Morristown and Mount Olive represent Morris County.
More: Morris flag football players, coaches celebrate sport's surge at MetLife Media Day
The Jets will provide the Unified teams with uniforms and practice jerseys, footballs and flag belts, along with grants to defray other costs.
Morris Knolls sophomore Val Pulido brought her own football on Wednesday. As the Golden Eagles rotated through the different stations, she shyly asked for autographs from all four Jets players on hand: center Joe Tippmann, linebackers Quincy Williams and Marcelino McCrary-Ball and defensive lineman Tanzel Smart. They also signed Morris Knolls' Unified flag poster.
"It's cool. It's big," Pulido said, looking around the high-ceilinged indoor facility. "Flag football is my dream."
The NJSIAA offers Unified basketball and bowling in the winter and track and field in the spring. However, it is not presently involved with the Unified flag program, according to a spokesman.
"It's something I wish I'd been able to do when I was a kid," said Tippmann, who demonstrated a nifty spin move the kids tried to emulate in a one-on-one drill.
"I started with flag, but getting to be in this facility, this environment, to be able to meet and be around pro athletes, it's something I wish I could have done."
Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.
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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NY Jets launch Special Olympics NJ Unified flag football league
