Buford’s varsity flag football team heads into the program’s second year wiser and with higher expectations.
The Lady Wolves wrapped up their inaugural season with an overall record of 8-12 and took home valuable lessons learned. When asked what the biggest lesson that was learned during the first season, Buford Head Coach Sean Gilbert replied, “There is a lot that goes into being successful and having the skills needed to be successful. It is not as simple as throwing and catching. There are a lot of schemes (offensively especially) that take a lot of time to learn and practice.”
The team has put in countless hours on the field this summer working on improving their skills and formulating the best plan for their team. Buford hit the road during the summer break to play other teams and other teams have come to play the Lady Wolves at Tom Riden Stadium giving the girls some much-needed experience.
“It was great to be able to see the girls in a competitive situation and we have a lot to build off of as we head into the new season,” Gilbert said of the summer scrimmage games Buford played.
The sport of girls’ flag football in Georgia high schools is young. The Georgia High School Association held its first official season of flag football in the fall of 2020 after the Atlanta Falcons ran a successful two-year pilot program involving Gwinnett, Cherokee, Forsyth, Muscogee and Rockdale County public schools. This fall there will be 270 high schools participating in the GHSA-sanctioned season.
As with any newer sport, youth feeder programs will take time to become fully established. With sports like softball and basketball, by the time a girl gets to high school, they have already played the sport for years. Flag football has yet to have that luxury and their athletes are often introduced to the sport during their first day of practice. The coaches have to become familiar with the sport as well.
The Buford coaches will be looking to their experienced players to lead the new players and quickly get them acclimated to flag football this season. Gilbert said the experienced players have already shown them this summer that they can be counted on to be the leaders the coaches hope for.
Buford returns the following players from the inaugural season to the field this fall:
Kaylee Johnson, Sr.; Grace Malala, Sr.; Lanier Condon, Jr.; Katie Davis, Jr.; Sara Duran, Jr.; Benny Okeleke, Jr.; Brayleigh Wansley, Jr. and Kieko Teague, Soph.
Newcomers who are expected to make an impact this fall are:
Reagan Dollar, Soph.; Alyssa Ivey, Soph.; Mia Bouton, Fr.; Sammie Buffo, Fr.; McKenna Cerna, Fr. and Lila Manders, Fr.
“These are all high-level athletes who have had a great summer and look to be difference-makers this fall,” said Gilbert.
When asked what Head Coach Gilbert’s take is on the upcoming season, he replied, “We were so close in so many games this year, and we are hoping a year of experience and a challenging summer, as well as a great preseason practice we will see great improvement over last season.”
The goals and expectations for this season are to “be better in every way.” The team is expected to have better skills, better execution and to have a better understanding of the game with the end-goal to reach the off-season.
Buford’s new season begins with a scrimmage against Roswell on September 25 followed by their first home game on October 2 versus Hebron Christian Academy and Parkview.
Buford will host its first-ever tournament on October 5 and they are finalizing plans to have their first televised games on October 23 against Milton and McEachern.
For the 2024 season, the GHSA has Buford in Division 4 (62 schools), Area 8 along with Central Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Dacula, Discovery, Greater Atlanta Christian, Mill Creek and Mountain View.
