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Last year’s cheerleader could become next year’s quarterback.
The city Public Schools Athletic League is launching an all-female flag-football league next spring that will allow high-school girls to throw, run, defend and score touchdowns instead of watching from the sidelines, The Post has learned.
And maybe the boys will come to the games to cheer on the girls.
“We’re looking to grow girls sports and offer them richer athletic opportunities. There’s interest in flag football,” said Eric Goldstein, the Department of Education’s CEO of school support services, which oversees PSAL.
Currently, 15 high schools have informal female flag football “clubs” — including Goldstein HS and Tilden HS in Brooklyn, and the Theodore Roosevelt HS complex in The Bronx, said PSAL director Donald Douglas.
The PSAL recently sponsored an informational-camp session at Tilden to introduce students to the sport, and about two dozen girls showed up.
At the session, potential players participated in drills and learned the rules and techniques of the game.
Unlike boys’ football, girls flag football will not be a full-contact sport with helmets and pads.
Flag football is a version of touch football. Defenders try to grab the flag hanging off the offensive player with the ball, instead of tackling them.
PSAL officials envision flag football played on fields half the size of a traditional football field, which means two games can be held at the same time.
The sport is gaining popularity across the country, especially in Texas and Florida, where thousands of high-school girls now compete.
Nationally, more than 19,000 high school girls participated in flag football during the 2009-10 school year, according to the NFL Girls Flag Football Leadership Program.
In 1988, Florida became the first state in the country to recognize flag football as a high-school varsity sport. Seventeen schools participated in the first year, and by 2010, the Florida program had grown to over 5,000 girls, a five-fold increase in 12 years, the National Federation of State High School Associations reports.
The PSAL currently offers girls the opportunity to participate in 16 all-girls sports and three co-ed sports. About 18,200 girls participated in PSAL athletic activities last year.
The PSAL will allow schools to request new teams online and will hold informational sessions as the first official flag-football season approaches, officials said.