Columbus girls flag football team fundraising for state title rings
When Columbus High’s girls flag football team took the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Dec. 18, they did so to the roar of a sizable crowd.
The school sent five spirit buses, filled with students and teacher chaperons, to support the team. Each bus held around 50 people, adding up to around 200 supporters who made the trek north. And they were treated to an entertaining display, as Columbus swept the tournament and won the state championship in convincing fashion.
Now, the team is being rewarded for its efforts after winning state.
“(State championship rings) already been designed and put in,” Blue Devils coach Christian Greer said Thursday. “They will be getting their rings.”
The rings take around seven to eight weeks to arrive, Grier said, and will likely be presented during a ceremony.
The rings cost around $300 each and, since the team is in its first year, it does not yet have a booster club. The Atlanta Falcons covered most of the costs for the Muscogee County School District.
Columbus High’s alumni association is pitching in, Grier said. Fundraising has not started yet, but the team will sell T-shirts to try and cover what’s left of the cost.
The shirts will sell for $12 each. The results of the team’s 12 games will be listed on the back, according to an email from Columbus boys golf coach Chris Parker, who came up with the idea of a T-shirt fundraiser. The front design is still to be determined.
Parker has won numerous state titles with Columbus’ boys’ golf team and knows just how much a booster club can help cut costs for things like championship rings.
“The main purpose (of the fundraiser) was to help them with rings, because I think they’re deserving of getting those, and to help them establish a booster club,” Parker said. “And they’re true state champs. They’re all-classification state champs.”
Columbus’ season will be a tough one to top: The Blue Devils did not allow a point during the regular season.
The Blue Devils beat Heritage (33-7), Archer (14-12) and Collins Hill (31-0 in the title game) in Atlanta. They went unbeaten in their inaugural season, beating Shaw 27-0 on Dec. 11 at Kinnett Stadium to win the first Muscogee County girls flag football championship.
Shirts go on sale in around one week, according to Parker. Individuals who wish to purchase one can contact Columbus High’s front office.
“They did a big thing,” Grier said. “They accomplished a big thing, so I don’t think they should have to pay for their own rings.”
THE SPORT’S FUTURE IN GEORGIA
Flag football will return to Muscogee County, as the GHSA has sanctioned the sport. Next year, MCSD AD Jeff Battles said on Dec. 11, the sport will have an official start date and end date, and will be regulated throughout the state, rather than on the district level.
“It’ll be a little more regulated,” Battles said, “whereas this year, every county kind of got to do its own start and end date.”
The last time GHSA sanctioned a new sport before girls flag football was in October 2018, when it added Esports.
The Muscogee County School District began fielding girls flag football teams in November. Each public high school in the district fielded a team.
After a successful first season in Gwinnett, the NFL franchise pushed the initiative to six counties in Georgia this year. The counties included Cherokee, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Henry, Muscogee and Rockdale — 52 schools in total.
