March 7 began the flag football season for two Hernando County High Schools, Weeki Wachee, and Central! Both schools have been working hard to bring flag football into their athletic program.
Weeki Wachee’s head coach Cynthia Cook is in her second year of coaching the Lady Hornets flag football team. Even though Weeki Wachee’s first season was in the Spring of 2020 with three games scheduled, the game’s structure was fresh and in its developing stage. Chris Cook, Cynthia’s husband, was Weeki Wachee’s head football coach. Cynthia Cook took over the girl’s flag football program for the 2021 season after appointed head coach Billy Hughes took leave.
Cynthia Cook stated, “I didn’t want the kids not to have the opportunity; if we can get the kids out there doing something else, I want them to do it. The girls are getting the opportunity to have so many more options, and we are getting more kids on campus involved.”
The Lady Hornets put four games on the schedule, and even though they played a few established teams, they gained experience both as players and coaches. “The nice thing about us right now is because we are so new and we are so young with these new programs is that a lot of our flag football girls play beach volleyball,” Coach Cook said. “We are starting to build a bigger core of female athletes in multiple sports in our school. They are starting to build a family, and they’re getting used to playing together and being competitive together.”
The Lady Hornets have added three games to their field experience and like with any sports, team structure changes every season. It may not be glorious during the first few games, but that’s all part of being part of a team. Wednesday’s game against Classical Prep is the start of building competitiveness and game organization. “When we started our first game, we played Classical Prep in a preseason game, our girls lost 42-0, and we lost last night 13-0. So we told the girls, you went from a 42-nothing loss to a 13-nothing that’s a win in our book,” Cook said. “We went from literally throwing them the ball instead of our own team the ball to making interceptions. We are going in the direction we need to go.”
Upcoming games:
April 11 against Bell Creek Academy
April 13 against Crystal River
April 18 at Lecanto
