Out of the sports that are currently offered at John Dewey High School, many students have questioned why there isn’t an American football team. American football being the most popular sport in the US, attending a high school football game is an experience that many teachers and students would love to have. The crowds from home and away teams coming to support their schools, and watching an intense football game is definitely something to look forward to. However, here at John Dewey, we don’t have that and there are multiple teachers and students who would be interested to start one.
Although John Dewey does not have a football team, there have been students and teachers who have spoken about starting up a flag football team and gathering up students who would be interested in participating in the sport. There is currently a flag football club for the male population but soon enough if we have enough females who are interested in taking a part of making a flag football team for the girls, there would be efforts taken to make it possible. The idea of making these clubs is to possibly gain more popularity in the sport so that it can later on be added on to become another PSAL sport that John Dewey has to offer.
In order to start up this women’s flag football club, the school would need at least one teacher who would be willing to supervise and coach the girls team along with at least 10 girls who would have an interest in joining. Thomas Pellegrito, who is currently a teacher at John Dewey as well as the assistant coach for the girls basketball team has mentioned that having a girls flag football team would definitely be an enjoyable activity for the school to have. According to Mr. Pellegrito, “I would like to start a girls flag football club or even PSAL team at John Dewey High School.
The boys have a club and I think there would be plenty of interest if we opened it up to the girls as well. The PSAL has a girls flag football as a sport and we would love to compete against other schools in the spring.” Many schools offer a flag football team, including in South Brooklyn which is where Dewey is located and playing against a rival school in another sport would definitely add another level of competition.
If John Dewey was to open up a club to start off a team, the interest for many students to try a new sport in the spring would definitely increase. It would open up more opportunities for those girls in the school especially for those who enjoy being active and playing sports.
Playing sports in high school allows students to stay active and have fun while getting an active workout as well. According to junior Shanae Moulate “If there was a flag football team there would be an extra sport for girls to feel welcome in. Also, many girls enjoy playing football but there’s no team so a team would meet the needs of those girls. I myself would also join the team because I enjoy playing flag football.”
Having flag football here at John Dewey is such an enjoyable experience for all students who attend the school. There is a current club held by Mr. Ruiz, however he even said himself that he would love if a PSAL flag football team was held here at Dewey as well as many other students. Flag football would be an exciting new sport to be added to John Dewey’s sports.
