Nearly every Sunlake student is familiar with the school’s athletic programs, whether you yourself are on a team or if someone you know is. It’s likely that the first sport that comes to mind is one of the fall sports, such as football or cross country, or a more recent winter sport, like weightlifting or basketball. However, it’s very rare that the spring sports get any sort of spotlight, especially considering their season is right at the end of the year. Flag football has gone significantly under the radar among Sunlake students, often not getting the appreciation or spotlight it deserves. Even so, sophomore Breanna Shows is incredibly passionate about the sport. “I started with a group of my friends (we played for a rec team) and then I found out it was going for my school, so then I really liked it and I wanted to tryout and I made the team and then ever since then I’ve been doing it for, like, travel and actually doing training for it.” 

“I play block and wide receiver [for offense], and then for defense I play quarter and sometimes middle,” Breanna, number 8, continues. When asked about what she enjoys most about playing on the team, she noted, “I like being all together with a group of people, a group of girls, that are, like, supposed to be like my family and just being there. It helps me to be more disciplined […] it’s strict but in a good way for me, like having to be early for practice, having to be at every practice, having to be at every game. And also having to work together with, like, people.” 

The SLHS flag football team’s first game for the season had been against Pasco High, which they won 57 to 0. “I was really excited for it. It was a really, really, tough game, but we definitely pulled it all together, and we did really good! I feel like our team really, like, really-really tried and put everything together in everything we did, right, and there were a few bad decisions with a few things, but overall it was super good.” 

Breanna has been on the team since freshman year. This season, though, she has a goal set for herself. “I really want to work on offense and being on the field the whole entire time because at first I wasn’t a starter, but now I, like, kind of am on offense, and my goal is to be, like, the best on offense I can be for my team. Get as many touchdowns for our team as possible.”