St. James Academy Wins Inaugural Kansas Girls Flag Football State Championship

St. James Academy Claims Kansas’s First Girls Flag Football Championship

History arrived on a Tuesday evening in late October for Kansas high school athletics, changing how women's sports are organized across the state. The St. James Academy Thunder defeated the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints 26-7 on October 21, capturing the inaugural Kansas state championship in girls flag football.

The milestone victory represents the culmination of a movement that gained official traction back in April, when the Kansas State High School Activities Association sanctioned the sport following a massive petition drive led by the Chiefs’ “Let Her Play” campaign, which secured 11,000 signatures. For the players on the field, the stakes reached far beyond a single trophy.

Saint James Academy Wins Inaugural Kansas Girls Flag Football State Championship

“It’s cool to have the ability to be a part of it. You can say you were one of these people who helped change women’s sports,” Emme Albright, the St. James quarterback and linebacker, told KCUR.

Albright spearheaded the effort on both sides of the ball during the championship matchup at Shawnee Mission South. She threw four touchdown passes and sealed the defensive effort with an interception.

Instagram

Postponed Championship Follows Fatal Crash at Sports Complex

The path to the title game demanded extraordinary resilience from both sister Catholic schools. The championship clash was originally scheduled for October 16, but organizers postponed the event following a fatal crash that claimed two lives and injured several others at the Scheels Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita. In the wake of the tragedy, both teams gathered that Sunday to lead a community prayer.

When the teams finally took the field days later, the victory reflected months of grueling preparation. Head coach Matt Hightower took over the program just months prior, orchestrating a regimen built around 6:30 a.m. practices and multi-hour film sessions. Hightower frequently started his own preparation at 4 a.m.

Stryker sports complex tommy peckham field

As a coach, it’s the same feeling you get as a dad watching your kids put in all the hard work to accomplish a goal.

Hightower inherited a roster filled with players who possessed limited prior experience in the sport.

Building a Foundation for the Future

With the inaugural title secured, the focus immediately shifts to sustainability and roster replenishment. Hightower faces the task of replacing a graduating senior core that drove the team’s historic run.

Kansas crowns first girls flag football champion as St. James Academy defeats St. Thomas Aquinas

“Hopefully with the state championship, the popularity within the building will grow. We’ll get some additional girls,” Hightower noted. “The goal will always remain the same and we’re gonna attack it with whoever’s out there.”

Albright shares that vision for expansion, hoping their state run inspires younger students to advocate for new athletic opportunities at their own schools. For St. James Academy, the goal had always been clear. As Albright told KCUR’s Up to Date, “We’ve always wanted flag football at St. James. We knew this was our chance to do it, and we had the team to do it.”