Olivia Fillipp tuned in for football about once a year with her family for the Super Bowl in February, but other than that, she had limited interest in America’s most-watched sport.

When girls flag football became an official IHSA sport for the 2024-25 school year, Fillipp’s brother Connor, a football-loving 12-year-old who’s a quarterback, encouraged his big sis to try out.

Olivia, a dedicated softball player, obliged.

The two went to toss a football back and forth in the family’s front yard.

Not long after that, Olivia was slinging passes, pulling flags and learning rules with her new high school teammates at Jacobs High School.

She was later named the starting QB as a freshman and helped lead the Golden Eagles to a regional championship. She’ll return to the field this fall but with more knowledge and love for the game.

“I honestly just wanted something different,” said Olivia, who watches her brother play as much as she can. “I felt my whole life revolved around softball. I just thought it would be a fun opportunity and maybe make my arm stronger.

“Going into it, I just wanted to have as much fun as [Connor] does.”

Last fall, hundreds of first-year players from 156 schools competed in the inaugural season of girls flag football in Illinois – up from the 22 in 2021, when Crystal Lake’s Gustavo Silva, the Chicago Bears’ director of football development, kicked off a pilot program in Chicago.

More than 200 schools are expected to have teams this fall, IHSA assistant executive director Tracie Henry said. Silva’s big goal for the 2026-27 school year is 300.

He believes the sky is the limit.

“I think we can hit [boys tackle] football numbers,” Silva said. “Ultimately, my guess is it will land somewhere around four classes. There are [about] 800 schools in the state of Illinois. If you have 15 girls in your school, you can have a flag team. That’s my approach, at least.”

Nick Hildreth, Willowbrook’s boys tackle football coach and assistant coach for flag, along with head coach Rachel Karos has seen firsthand how far the sport can take girls.

Willowbrook captured the first Chicago Bears Girls Flag State championship in 2022. The Warriors then competed at the NFL Flag Football Championships in Nevada after winning a qualifier in Canton, Ohio.

Last month, Hildreth and Karos accepted invitations to coach some of the top girls in the nation at the USA Football National Development Program Select Bowl in Los Angeles.

“Football is kind of our pastime in the United States,” Hildreth said. “It’s something girls are seeing as an opportunity and getting excited about. At our school, outside of a few exceptions, our best athletes are playing. For myself, having a daughter in the community that will go to Willowbrook, now there are girls she looks up to. Someone like my daughter will never know any different.”

Hildreth’s Warriors received national attention in 2022 when wide receiver Sarah Ball was featured on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.” The aptly named Ball leaped high in the air to make a catch over her defender before turning upfield for a touchdown – with former NFL offensive lineman Brian Baldinger analyzing the play during a segment of “Baldy’s Breakdowns.”

“That first year was really cool,” Hildreth said. “It was kind of a blur.”

A blur is a good way to describe the rising popularity of flag football.

Bradley-Bourbonnais went to the inaugural IHSA state tournament last season and finished fourth. When the season started, head coach Tremaine Turner, who had no previous coaching experience, and his staff had few expectations outside of teaching the basics of passing, catching, flag-pulling and kicking.

“We had no idea of what it was going to look like or what kind of athletes we’d get because it’s during the season where there’s multiple stuff going on,” Turner said.

To his delight, Turner had enough players for two teams: 22 on varsity and 22 on JV.

Despite having solid numbers, the first varsity game got off to an inauspicious start.

“The first game was a lot of laughs,” Turner said. “We had these flags we thought we were going to use the whole year. They were just falling everywhere, and in the game of flag, if both flags are on the ground, by IHSA rules, it’s supposed to be a dead ball.

“Being so hot, they were getting worse. The refs were like, ‘Hey, if we keep calling dead balls, this game is never going to end.’ So, it ended up being two-hand touch instead of flag football.”

The Boilermakers got new flags from another school, and later, Silva and the Bears stepped in to make sure they had the proper equipment.

Bradley-Bourbonnais senior Eve McIntyre, who plays safety, went out for flag football because she wanted to try something new, and a few of her friends from softball also were playing. McIntyre said there were a good number of track and field athletes and volleyball players who chose to play flag instead of volleyball.

“I think a lot of girls that went out for flag, they saw the boys football games and really enjoyed it, the atmosphere of it,” McIntyre said. “We had powderpuff, but it was only during homecoming week. I think that drew a lot of interest for girls to try it out.”

Providing opportunities for girls is something Turner is passionate about.

“It provides an even playing field for girls and boys. Girls deserve to be glorified, too,” Turner said.

Jimmy Roberts, who has coached Jacobs’ boys basketball team for 12 seasons and will return as the flag football coach this fall, has two daughters (seventh and first grade) who have been drawn to the sport.

Seeing older girls play football is an eye-opener for them.

“They come around a lot in the summer for camps, and it’s great,” Roberts said. “Our [boys basketball players] are good to them and have a real good time ... but it’s just different being with the girls. They’re girls, so they really embrace them.”

McHenry senior Holly Waters and other Warriors flag football players recently helped teach youth girls and boys during a Chicago Bears Mini Monsters Flag Football Camp held at McCracken Field in McHenry.

About 75 kids showed up to run around and learn the ins and outs of the game.

“This is super cool,” Waters said after running drills. “Especially as a girl, football is viewed as a male sport. Seeing all of these little girls come out is exciting to see. Probably some of them have older brothers who play football or maybe they have sisters who play now, too.”

Silva wants to start expanding to reach middle schools so younger girls have an opportunity to play. It’s also reaching the collegiate level, with Benedictine University and Rockford University having teams last year. In 2026, Silva said, eight colleges will have teams in Illinois.

“I don’t want girls to say, ‘I played four years in high school and that was great, but now what?’ ” Silva said. “I want them to say, ‘Hey, I can go play collegiately or I can represent my country in the Olympics.’

“There’s no shortage of opportunities.”