Pickens County Welcomes First All Girl Flag Football Team

PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. – The Pickens County Recreation Department has successfully organized the first all girl flag football team in the county.

For many years, cheerleading and soccer were the only two sports available for elementary and middle school aged girls in the fall. Brian Z Jones, the Director of the Pickens County Recreation Department (PCRD), explained that this was not the first attempt to put the historic team together.

In 2021, the PCRD tried to put a team together when the Mountain Football League wanted “to gauge the interest of girls in flag football,” At the time, despite PCRD’s efforts, there was not enough interest to have a full team.

This year, although there were a few challenges, Pickens County can now boast having a girls flag football team. To make this historic team happen, Director Jones, who is also the coach, had to use all his resources. He explained that as the registration period was closing, there were slots still open. He had to contact parents he worked with “on one of his Rec Basketball teams” to get the word out. With all that said, he was able to assemble nine girls for the current team. Four of these nine girls on the team came directly from the basketball team he coached.

Now that the team has been assembled, the girls have started their practices and are eager to play the sport. Their first game is on August 27th. The rest of the season’s schedule is available on the Mountain Athletic Conference website.

Director Jones hopes to increase participation in youth sports through this new avenue for the young girls of Pickens County. He urges members of the community to get the word out so more girls can participate. His goal is that there will be “Enough girls in 2023 to have three or more teams.”

If you have any questions, please contact Director Brian Z Jones with the PCRD at bzjones@pickenscountyga.gov.