Oak Harbor Girls Flag Football Tryouts Draw More Than 30 Players

Tryouts for Oak Harbor High School’s inaugural girls flag football program took place Nov. 18 and drew an estimated field of over 30 participants, Head Coach Mike Lonborg said. With varsity and junior varsity teams needing seven players on the field at a time plus substitutes, Lonborg indicated that such turnout could make roster cuts unnecessary as coaches finalize teams this week.

Building a program from the ground up presented logistical and institutional challenges, including the lack of a preexisting pool of players and the need to create coaching and scheduling structures. Lonborg, who has 25 years of soccer coaching experience and just finished the school’s girls varsity soccer season that reached state for a third consecutive year, described the situation as an advantage. “There’s some difficulty to it, but by the same token, there’s also such a freshness,” he explained. “It’s like taking a bunch of Legos and putting them together and building them into whatever you want it to look like.”

Many of the athletes trying out already compete in other high school sports, which eased early pressure as both players and staff acclimate to a new program. Seniors Annalise Wesley and Layla Suto noted a strong pace of play during the session, which included a relay drill that penalized fumbled balls with burpees. Two days into the tryout process Lonborg said he was beginning to identify specific skills among players, and that impressed him. “I’ve been highly impressed,” he said. “But a lot of it’s going to come down to athleticism. Can you catch the ball? Can you run? Are you coachable, and able to run the routes?”

The varsity team is scheduled to see its first game action on Dec. 3 at the Squalicum Jamboree in Bellingham, while the junior varsity schedule remains in development. Given turnout, Lonborg said he is “hoping” to keep everyone who participated in tryouts, a decision that would broaden participation but require attention from district leaders on equipment, staffing and field time. For Island County residents, the new program signals evolving student demand for athletic opportunities and points toward upcoming decisions for the school and community about resource allocation and support.