Aliso Niguel’s Flag Football team has trained really hard over the summer and is ready to put their hard work on the field in hopes for another successful season. Head Coach Randie Baldwin is excited for a second season while carrying the previous season’s momentum on.
In the inaugural season, the team won the first flag football league title in history. Aliso strives to perform even better than their 19-5 record last season, with one of the biggest additions being Alaina Villa (12). Villa is a valuable asset for the Wolverines, increasing the speed of the team heading into the season.
When asked about their preparation for the season, Villa said, “I did not do much prior to tryouts. It’s my first season, so I just showed up hoping for the best. As a team, we played multiple scrimmages against good teams so we could grow and learn from our mistakes quickly.”
The team had an extremely strong start, winning the first non-conference game of the season 20-12 against Trabuco Hills. The team then went on to win against Loara High School from Anaheim in their first home game, holding Laora only to six points.
A key part to the team’s solid defense is Gwynneth Kirtland (12) who states, “I love the girls on my team, and we have so much fun together at practice as well as games.”
Kirtland also gave Coach Baldwin high praise: “I love how motivating and competitive coach Baldwin is.”
Almost a week later, the Wolverines played against Santa Monica and won a close game of 14-12 against Santa Monica once again.
Up next for the Wolverines was the second annual Chargers girls flag football invitational tournament.
The Chargers organization has played a big part in the inclusivity, expansion and promotion of girls flag football within the past two years. Along with the tournament, Aliso’s Coach Baldwin was nominated for and won “Coach of the Year” by the Chargers. She also got to participate in coaching a game for the Orange County All Stars against the Los Angeles All Stars at SOFI Stadium, home of the Chargers in Inglewood, California.
In the first game of the tournament, the Wolverines won against the Edison Chargers in a high scoring game, 26-19.
Later in the day, they played game two of the tournament against Esperanza High School, also winning 19-6.
In the finals of the tournament the following day, the Wolverines faced off against Long Beach Poly. In a really tight game, the Jackrabbits edged out the Wolverines, giving them their first loss of the season with a score of 15-19.
The Wolverines, who still have a long season ahead, look to prepare for their upcoming conference games.
