“Down, set, hike!” All of freshman Tana Burgreen’s focus is now on the football that had just found the hands of the Melbourne High School quarterback. Noticing the pressure approaching, she drops back, knowing the quarterback would have to attempt a pass to avoid being sacked. Her instincts kicked in as Burgreen tracked the ball through the air, taking off as it reached her arms.
“I didn’t really know what was happening in the moment,” Burgreen said. “I thought the girl in front of me was going to catch it, but it just ended up falling to me, and I just knew I needed to run and try and make it to the end zone.”
After dodging flagpulls and weaving through the Melbourne offense-turned-defense, she reached the end zone. Burgreen had just scored the first touchdown in school history.
“I’m proud of myself that I was able to make a play and get the first touchdown for our team,” Burgreen said. “We were all jumping around and hugging each other because everyone was so excited.”
This energy towards football is the first of its kind for athletes on campus. “0-0 Undefeated Football” was the slogan printed across mandatory PE T-shirts in 2008, as the concept of football at West Shore was nothing but a gag. For years, students would have to travel to schools like Melbourne and Viera High School to experience the feeling of Friday night lights. The closest the school got to a team was the highly anticipated yearly Powderpuff games, up until the fall of 2024.
“The district finally allowed us to have it this year after decades of trying to get it,” athletics director Tony Riopelle said. “Most counties already offer flag football to their kids; we were one of the only counties that didn’t.”
After obtaining the stamp of approval from the school district, a poll was held on Aug. 16 asking girls to rank their interest in participating in a spring sport. Their options included flag football, track and field, lacrosse and tennis.
“We had roughly 65 girls that chose flag football as their number one choice they wanted to play,” Riopelle said. “I knew we were going to have a JV and a varsity, and I was fired up.”
Jenny Pazderak was named head coach of the varsity program, assisted by Corey Burton, while Austin Glezen coaches JV. Riopelle said the process of finding coaches was not difficult due to the abundance of interest in the position.
“I talked to administration saying that if we get girls flag [football], I want to be a part of it,” Pazderak said. “I wish they had something like this when I was growing up. I would have been all over it.”
Melbourne High School is the only other school in Brevard that offers girls flag football to their students. Riopelle said this caused scheduling conflicts.
“[Out-of-county] teams will play us, but they don’t really necessarily want to come here,” Riopelle said. “I had to kind of beg them to come here, which is why I’m hoping next year maybe some other schools will add [flag football].”
Schools like John Carroll Catholic and Sebastian River High School have had girls flag football for a multiple years. Pazderak said the lack of experience would only be a minor setback for the team.
“Everybody [on the team] is new, and we’re all learning together,” Pazderak said. “The girls are determined, ready to work and ready to fight. They don’t want to lose.”
Junior running back Violet Castillo said she was excited to play flag football after participating in the Powderpuff game.
“I feel like the main character,” Castillo said. “It’s like I am making history by contributing something important to West Shore.”
Having played soccer for 13 years, Castillo said she has loved learning a new sport.
“The learning process has been great,” Castillo said. “It’s been fun switching from soccer, which is footwork, to flag football, which is more handwork.”
Eight out of the 18 girls played on varsity soccer coached by Pazderak. Burgreen said these girls motivated her to join flag football.
“I knew that a lot of the girls on my soccer team were going to play flag football,” Burgreen said. “I’ve always thought that [flag football] sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a try.”
After playing soccer for the majority of her life, Burgreen said the two sports are similar in technicality.
“It’s a completely different sport, but some things still transfer over,” Burgreen said. “It’s a lot of the same shifting and running with the addition of learning the plays.”
For the majority of junior and senior girls, Powderpuff is the first introduction to the sport of flag football. Castillo said Powderpuff was a highlight of her year.
“Powderpuff was a moment I had been waiting for since seventh grade, so being able to participate this year was extremely important to me,” Castillo said. “I always looked up to the upperclassmen that got to put paint all over themselves and get hype all day at school.”
Students around the school recognize Powderpuff for the energy and excitement that follows the sought-after event. After experiencing the powderpuff atmosphere as a coach, Pazderak said she hopes home games bring similar energy and crowds.
“I think it’s going to draw a lot of people out there,” Pazderak said. “Everybody is used to ‘guy football,’ so I believe that something fresh will bring excitement and build a great support system for the girls.”
Castillo said this same energy inspired her to play flag football.
“Powderpuff was a short season, so I wanted to keep that energy for longer and play competitively,” Castillo said. “Before Powderpuff, I knew nothing about football, and I made a lot of mistakes as the starting running back, so I was really inspired to learn the sport after playing in that game.”
With more experience under her belt, Castillo said she has been able to understand her role as running back on a deeper level.
“As the running back, I have a lot of freedom with our plays,” Castillo said. “Other players have a set-in-stone route, whereas I get to look at the defense, talk to my quarterback and make my own plays.”
Along with Castillo, Burgreen said she is beginning to feel comfortable as a linebacker.
“I’m learning to contain the offense and getting better at pulling flags,” Burgreen said. “If I fail to do my job, they will gain yardage, so I have to communicate with the rest of the defense to make sure no one gets past us first.” Although Castillo’s role on the field is crucial, she has accepted a calling larger than the game.
“It’s an honor to be able to bring flag football to the girls here and allow us to show our athletic capabilities as women,” Castillo said. “As a starting offensive player, it’s really important to me that I am that role model that people get to look up to and hopefully inspire the girls that didn’t get to try out.”
