As the athletes from the Nordonia High School girls flag football team gathered around one another, they were handed a championship trophy.
They raised the trophy over their heads in celebration and cemented their names in girls high school flag football history as the recipients of the first-ever Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Girls High School Flag Football State Championship title.
"It's honestly surreal," Nordonia senior Haydn Paul said. "Coming into the season, I knew we had a good chance of coming here. But now that I'm actually here and that we won, it's the craziest feeling ever."
At the inaugural OHSAA Girls High School Flag Football State Championship, the top four teams from both the Browns and the Bengals' divisions competed for the state title. Berkshire, Nordonia, Madison and Midview all moved on from the Browns Girls High School Flag Football Championship Tournament – with Madison winning the championship – to compete in the state championship tournament. For the Bengals, Badin, Mount Notre Dame, Princeton and St. Ursula made the title tournament.
Nordonia faced off against Mount Notre Dame in the championship finale after they defeated Badin in the quarterfinal and Berkshire in the semi-finals. After a hard-fought game, Nordonia was crowned as the inaugural state champions.
"It's surreal," Nordonia head coach Steve Holtz said. "We had a good regular season, so we were pumped for the playoffs and, and our girls came in and in game one we faced adversity. We lost our best wide receiver, so we had to find a way. So, I'm just happy that these girls came together and pulled through at the end."
This first state championship comes on the heels of progress made in July 2025, when OHSAA officially approved girls high school flag football to be a state championship sport – making Ohio the 17th state to sanction girls flag football across the United States.
With the sanctioning, and the first championship tournament, OHSAA is doing its part in providing a sustainable pathway for female athletes to compete at the highest level within their schools – as well as further solidifying the sport's legitimacy and inspiring the next generation of players.
The Browns played an integral in helping obtain the recognition of girls flag football as a varsity sport. They began the implementation of girls flag football in 2021 alongside Northeast Ohio Flag Football, which led to the creation of the first Girls High School Flag Football league in Ohio. Over the last six years, the Browns have played a pivotal role in working towards the sanctioning of girls flag football as a varsity high school sport, growing the number of Northeast Ohio high schools with teams from six in 2021 to 120 in 2026 and over 61 new high schools competing in the Spring 2026 season. A total of 160 high schools fielded a girls flag football team in 2026.
"It's so important because if the Browns don't back this, this doesn't happen or it happens at such a slower pace," Holtz said. "Now there's over 160 teams, I believe, and without the Browns' help and helping us, we wouldn't be here today."
Nordonia was one of the 160 schools. They were originally one of the first six teams to participate in the Browns girls flag jamboree in the fall of 2021 as they Browns worked to build a foundation in Northeast Ohio. Nordonia then established a team and joined the Browns Girls Flag Football division in 2025.
Since joining, they have seen their own program grow. They participated in a summer league during 2025 to help hone their skills and prepare them for the spring 2026 season. They culminated their successful year by cementing their school in history as the first-ever champions of the OHSAA Girls High School Flag Football State Championship.
"It means so much, they've worked so hard," Holtz said. "Like last summer, I had girls working so hard in the summer league. They came back and worked so hard when we started up in March. It just means the world to me, like that they're rewarded for their hard work, and they play with class, they play tough, but they play fair and they're good sports."
Interested in starting a girls flag football team at your high school? Complete this questionnaire HERE so the Browns can share more information and outline next steps.
