Medina junior celebrates start of girls flag football

ELYRIA — Gabi LaVolpa kept knocking and finally the door opened.The Medina junior has spent her career petitioning the school to form a flag football team, and everyone got enjoy the fruits of that labor Friday at Elyria Catholic when the Bees took the field for the inaugural Northern Ohio Girls Flag Football League season.Medina won its first Western Conference Orange Division game 19-0 against Oberlin, then lost to Elyria 24-18. Neither game might not have happened had LaVolpa and her mom help lead the charge."It feels great," said LaVolpa, who caught a touchdown during the Bees' win against the Phoenix. "Women's sports have come a long way. We're really growing and developing, and I can't wait to see it in the (2028) Olympics."We're just trying to push our program and continue to grow. I feel like women's sports are overlooked a lot and to be some of the first women to play for the school in flag football is a big accomplishment. It's a big honor and I can't wait to represent my school this year."The Bees were one of 11 teams that took the field Friday, many for the first time. Black River and Cloverleaf played a combined three games. The Pirates lost 30-0 to Sandusky, while the Colts lost 23-6 to Elyria and 32-0 to Midview.All but one of the Colts' 14 players are freshmen, while the Pirates have a combined 10 freshmen and sophomores, along with six seniors. "We were all pretty positive and looked forward to this," said Cloverleaf freshman Rylee Winkelman, who scored the Colts' only touchdown on a reception in the second half. "It's really exciting to be making history, doing something new with my lovely teammates and all my coaches with all the hard work they've put in."Medina had some great defensive performances throughout, as two of its three touchdowns against Oberlin came on interceptions, with the Bees securing four in the opening game alone. Courtney Snow and Norah Shumar — both freshmen — each returned one for a touchdown.Shumar's second of the game came in the second half with Oberlin 1 yard from the end zone while trailing 12-0. She also caught a touchdown against Elyria."My team definitely helped me with those interceptions by blocking off the other people," Shumar said. "Our defense is really good at shuffling over. We watch the ball, see where it goes and where we can move in front of it to get those interceptions. I'm only a freshman, so I can continue to play all four years."It feels really good to represent our school in flag football. It's really cool to see that Gabi brought this over to Medina and figured all this out for us." Contact Chris Sweeney at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.