University of Redlands Makes ‘Herstory’: First Women’s Flag Football Season

Flag football is a variation of mainstream tackle football, where players pull flags rather than tackling one another. Other differences include longer ‘downs,’ a shorter field and a new scoring system. Rachel Roche, the associate director of athletics and compliance, said the university was looking to add another women’s sport and was initially considering sand volleyball or stunt. 

Roche said flag football crossed their radar because the sport had suddenly become very popular among Inland Empire high schools. Flag football – for both genders – was not just growing at the high school level, but college and professional levels as well. There was even a flag football commercial in Super Bowl LIX, and this sport will make an appearance in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Roche said that California Lutheran University, Claremont University and Pomona College – three other Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) members – also plan to offer flag football in the fall of 2025. 

“I think a lot of girls are attracted to it and enticed by it because it’s something new,” Tatumn Springer-Etchegoyen, the University of Redlands’ flag football coach, said. “You have girls that have dedicated themselves 10, 11, 12 years to one sport to then have something that they’re able to pick up quickly and is new to them just makes it more exciting.”

Springer-Etchegoyen also pointed out how women’s flag football is more than just a sport, but an opportunity for women to venture beyond societal spheres.

“I love the part of the game that’s kind of helped connect dad and daughters in a sport that was always kind of like, ‘Oh, I’m going to teach my son to do this,’” she said.

After receiving approval from the university’s Board of Trustees and President’s Office, the Bulldog Athletic Department prepared for a spring club season and held an interest meeting on Dec. 9, 2025. 

Such an opportunity caught the eye of Averie Stunz ‘28,  a midfielder on the Bulldogs soccer team, who got a taste of flag football during high school gym class. Stunz filled the quarterback and wide receiver positions on offense as well as being a linebacker or corner on defense.

“I definitely thought it would be awesome to make history for women’s sports and athletics,” she said, “because why not be a two-sport athlete in college?”

JJ Kaczorowski ‘26, who plays corner and receiver positions on the team, said she had decided to join flag football because she thought it would be fun to learn a new sport. Kaczorowski played soccer at Suffolk University Boston before transferring to the University of Redlands her sophomore year, where she was on the track and field team. 

Unlike Stunz and Kaczorowski, Callie Dixon ‘26 was new to the collegiate athlete scene. Dixon had played flag football in middle school and was excited to return to the sport. Dixon said adjusting to the collegiate athlete lifestyle, with its major time commitment, was tough at first. Despite these challenges, Dixon was able to adjust and upheld the Bulldog defense as a linebacker.

When asked what they like about flag football, all three players spoke about its speed and intensity.

“The adrenaline when you pull a flag or intercept a ball is just so fun,” Dixon said.

Stunz, Kaczorowski and Dixon also shared their thoughts on how flag football’s growth has elevated female athletes, a topic which was touched on at Redlands’ Feb. 8 50th Anniversary of Women in Sports celebration. 

“I think there’s a lot of pushback of, ‘Football should only be for men.’ So I think it’s definitely really cool to have support from the school,” Dixon said.

“It’s cool to be a part of something that’s new, especially for women,” Stunz added. “For us to have an opportunity to do something like, ‘Hey, women can ball too. We can do everything you can.”

However, Dixon said it’s important to keep supporting and recognizing existing women’s sports.

“I think it’s awesome and it’s so exciting that flag football is having so much support and we’re having a varsity sport,” she said, “but I also think that we should make sure to focus on the current women’s sports too.”

Finding the Right Fit

The Redlands Athletic Department hired Springer-Etchegoyen as the flag football head coach in February 2025. A Southern California native, Springer-Etchegoyen grew up surrounded by football.

“My dad coached my brother’s team growing up,” she said. “I grew up on a football field. I was at their football practice four to five days a week.”

Springer-Etchegoyen said she begged her parents to play, but since it was primarily a ‘man’s sport’ at that time, she settled for competitive travel soccer, basketball and softball. She finally got her wish while studying at the University of East London, where she played in a tackle football league. Springer-Etchegoyen said she was sitting on a bus one day and saw people tossing a football, and after she inquired about it, they invited her to join them.

“I was like, ‘Well, I’m the girl,’” she said. “And they were like, ‘Oh, anyone can play. We don’t care who you are.’”

After suffering a major shoulder injury that required surgery, Springer-Etchegoyen stepped into a coaching role. She graduated in the summer of 2021 with a double major in Criminology & Criminal Justice and then returned to the States, where she eventually found her way back to the football field. Springer-Etchegoyen coached flag football at Edison High School in Huntington Beach from 2021-24 and the Conquer SoCal club team from 2023-25. She then decided to apply to the University of Redlands’ position, saying that she was impressed by its commitment to the emerging sport.

“Not many schools have fully invested like Redlands has on a full time coaching staff that they’re allowing,” she said. “A lot of them are still part time, and a lot of people have to work their main job and do this, whereas I’m pretty lucky to just only have to do this.”

In fact, Springer-Etchegoyen said she is the only full-time coach of all the teams they played this season.

Roche said Springer-Etchegoyen’s experience playing and coaching the sport, especially in the local area, set her apart from the other candidates.

“She has key Southern California ties with the club program, with the high school, with other coaches,” Roche said. “So she already has those access points to recruit student athletes to come and play women’s flag football here.”

The players agreed. 

“It’s impressive to have such an accomplished coach coaching us. And I feel really secure with everything that she tells us. I know for a fact that it works – if I do it right,” Kaczorowski said, with a chuckle.

Springer-Etchegoyen was joined by Assistant Coach Andrew Saibene along with Student Assistants Peyton McFaul ‘28 and Julian Sibley ‘25.

A Season of Firsts

The University of Redlands’ first women’s flag football club practice took place on Feb. 20. With only a few weeks before their first scrimmage, Springer-Etchegoyen and her 30 student athletes got to work learning the new sport and how to work together.

“We’re a bunch of girls who didn’t really know each other beforehand,” Kaczorowski said. “Some people are from other sports like soccer and volleyball, but as a collective [we] have never played all together before.”

Following the March 12 scrimmage against Irvine valley College, the Lady Bulldogs had their first game against Saddleback College on March 21. Although they lost 0-20, Springer-Etchegoyen and Stunz said they learned a lot from it.

“After the first game, it just seemed like the light switch turned on for us,” Stunz said. “We might not win games. We might get blown out a few times, but we’re still learning so much every time we are on the field at practice or our games.”

The Lady Bulldogs went on to obtain a 4-7 overall record, winning their April 12 season finale against the Claremont Colleges 33-2. As Springer-Etchegoyen pointed out, the Lady Bulldogs beat all the teams in their division. But most importantly, Springer-Etchegoyen commended the team for learning a whole new sport.

“It’s not the winning, it’s the fact that, in the span of two months, they learned what flag football was, practiced it, and were able to even play in a game,” Springer-Etchegoyen said.

The biggest area of growth, Dixon agreed with her coach, was in football IQ – or deeper understanding of the game and strategy.

“For a while, our coach was like, ‘Guys, you’re not connecting the four dots,’” Dixon said. “And at our last game, she was like, ‘Guys, you finally connected the four dots!’”

Springer-Etchegoyen also commended her players for their willingness to step outside their comfort zones and their effort through the season.

“The dedication that the girls had to making this team successful, making the university proud and being the ones that cultivate the culture that starts how this team goes for the rest of its time at Redlands, I think is what makes a difference,” she said. “It’s not me, it’s not my assistant coach. It’s them.”

Along with the work ethic and commitment, all three players said the camaraderie they established was instrumental to their success and enjoyment of the sport. Kaczorowski specifically talked about the bus ride back from their April 9 game against Irvine Valley College. This was the third time the Lady Bulldogs played the Lasers, and they lost 7-25. Even though it was a rough game, Kaczorowski said the hour-and-a-half ride was full of team bonding.

“It brought me back to high school, where we were just all sharing stories, laughing. Coach even has to tell us to quiet down,” she said. “One person would share a story and someone in the very back of the bus would be like, ‘Hey, you guys speak up so everyone else can hear!’”

Looking Forward

The first official varsity season of women’s flag football will take place this fall. Springer-Etchegoyen said the team will be a bit smaller, around 21-23 players, with the addition of some recruited players. After this successful trial run season, Springer-Etchegoyen said she is excited to see what comes next.

“I think if I can recruit and bring in players that have just as good of attitudes and effort, and kids who are coachable, we’ll be unstoppable,” she said. “The group this year really set the foundation for that.”

The players share Springer-Etchegoyen’s enthusiasm.

“I’m excited to see who she brings in, how I can help integrate them into a team that is already here and also just continue building traditions from here on out,” Kaczorowski said.