Flag football has ‘totally empowered’ girls in the Philly area. That’s wonderful.

When my daughters told me their friend Cam had quit the basketball team, it made me sad. When I found out why, it made me glad.

For years, Camryn Puhalla played AAU and high school ball at Central Bucks East with my two older daughters. I have three girls. I believe girls need sports. Studies have long shown that a participation in a sport has long-term benefits: It strengthens bodies, promotes social skills, and provides a sense of accountability, community, and capability. I feared that Cam, who loves sports more than any girl I’ve ever met, might be losing these benefits.

But no. Cam wasn’t losing basketball.

She was gaining football.

So are thousands of other girls in Pennsylvania.

The PIAA on Wednesday ratified girls’ flag football as a state-sanctioned sport, becoming the 13th state to do so after 103 schools sponsored the sport. The NFL, always eager to build its massive fan base, is firmly behind the initiative. The Eagles and Steelers have backed more than 100 programs in Pennsylvania. The National Federation of State High School Associations says about 500,000 girls under the age of 18 played flag in some capacity in 2023. The International Olympic Committee in October added flag football for men and women; Patrick Mahomes, the face of the NFL, says he wants to compete at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

These are wonderful developments.

In a world in which costly travel clubs and AAU-sponsored superteams rule the $15 billion youth sports landscape in the United States, there cannot be too many sports in our schools for our kids — especially for our girls.

Listen to what it means to Cam:

“It’s awesome that they’ve brought flag to high school for us,” she said Tuesday. “This totally validates it. It means it’s getting respected now. People come up to me in school and ask, like, when our games are. Boys come up and say, ‘I wish there was a boys’ flag football team.’ And with the Olympics? It’s, like, a real sport.”

» READ MORE: How the Eagles helped make girls' flag football in Pennsylvania a reality

Cam is slightly built. She spoke with a soft, high voice, and her reddish-brown hair and her kind, green eyes sparkled. But I’ve seen those eyes blaze on the basketball court, and I’ve now seen them on fire on the football field, with badass eye black below them.

Football was her favorite sport until fifth grade, when the local girls’ flag league petered out as her peers turned to soccer, basketball, and softball. She stayed invested in the game. She runs two fantasy football teams. She follows Penn State and the Eagles. She used to play quarterback like her favorites, Trace McSorley and Jalen Hurts. She’s thrilled that Happy Valley legends Saquon Barkley and Jahan Dotson now wear midnight green.

She dropped basketball in part, she said, because carrying three sports as a 16-year-old high school junior was too much. She’s the goalie on the field hockey team, which explains her bruised legs, and she plans to play indoor field hockey this winter. She’s a receiver on the school’s flag team in the spring and a travel flag team in the fall; on Monday, she played a field hockey game after school, then went to flag practice that night. The hoops program at East, like most schools, encourages attending offseason lifting and open gym participation.

“I definitely considered playing basketball again,” Cam said wistfully. She’s been a point guard since first grade and has a deadly three-pointer. “But flag’s so much fun, I think I’m making the right decision.”

So are half the girls on the Penn Athletics under-12 team, who recently quit soccer to concentrate on flag. They’re coached by Erik Pedersen, who runs the program, coaches the team at East, and spearheaded the effort to bring girls’ flag football to the Central Bucks School District. Pedersen played linebacker and tight end for West Chester University after winning a state title at Neshaminy in 2001, and now he’s the principal at New Hope-Solebury Middle School.

His older daughter, Rossi, is a 5-foot-4 Peyton Manning — quarterback, light hair, no nonsense — who is helping her dad live a dream.

“How cool is it to sit down with your 11-year-old daughter and watch a football game on TV and they understand everything?” Pedersen said. “From formations, routes, and even guessing what kind of play is coming next.”

He also has an 8-year-old named Charlotte who’s even more football-crazy than Rossi, and two sons, 1 and 3, who will spend their formative years watching their sisters rock out. And rock out, they will. At Tuesday evening’s practice, Rossi threw posts and slants to teammates who ran routes with the sort of precision the Eagles could have used in their loss to Atlanta on Monday night.

» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni needs defense to bail him out. Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat, Jordan Davis, and Jalen Carter can’t do it. | Marcus Hayes

My favorite: Maci Shvanda, who wore receiver’s gloves and white, high-top cleats and chewed on an official mouth guard.

Between snaps, I asked, “Hey, Maci, why do you have a mouth guard?”

She looked at me, annoyed, and snarled, mouth guard still in place, “I dunno. I just like it.” She resumed her defensive stance.

I didn’t ask Maci any more questions.

Pedersen’s team of sixth graders has been together for four years, and they are intense and focused. They could run the practices themselves. Pedersen figures they’re the deeper end of a C.B. East pipeline. When East QB Sarah Boland graduates — she‘s a junior who can chuck it 50 yards — Pedersen has a 13-year-old in his program who he thinks can replace her. Maybe one day Rossi will wear the red, white, and blue, too.

If nothing else, flag football helped Rossi bloom.

“My daughter at one time wouldn’t say two words. She was pretty anxious,” Pedersen said. “This sport has truly empowered her.”

Not just Rossi.

“All of them,” Pedersen said, gesturing at the team, now running cone drills. “How do you break down the walls? What does it mean to be a leader? What does it mean to be a female leader?”

Amen.

Like most high school flag squads, the East team is comprised of multisport athletes. Magee Williamson, Cam’s classmate, scored the tying goal last week when East beat rival C.B. West in girls’ soccer; Pedersen says her flag nickname is “Spinny Magee,” after her signature flag football move. Hunter Barno and Marley Metz, who played on the varsity basketball team last year, are senior captains of the flag team. Sophomore receiver Delaney Long played JV basketball last year with Cam.

Last fall, when the incumbent field hockey goalie said she wanted to switch to play in the field, Cam was asked to play goalie. Hated it. Her basketball future was uncertain; the big girls generally get the big minutes. She was not thrilled with her sporting life.

A year later, after a season of flag, things are better. She’s thinking about playing field hockey or flag in college; 15 NAIA schools offer flag as a women’s sport, and, Pedersen figures, with the NFL’s backing, flag is a natural Title IX qualifier for NCAA schools.

» READ MORE: Flag football gave Lansdale Catholic grad Caitlin Quinn a college opportunity she didn’t know was possible

For now, though, Cam is delighted to be catching passes from Sarah.

Kim Puhalla, Cam’s mom, was a gymnast and softball player in high school, and she’s delighted Cam has found high school sports she loves, too.

“Her life has flipped. She’s thriving. It’s been amazing,” said Kim, emotion welling in her voice. “She couldn’t be happier. She’s a happy child.”

What could be better than that?