Community Sports

Sports Beat | Girls football teams plant a flag in Gig Harbor

Both Peninsula and Gig Harbor are playing playoff football in January.

The girls flag football teams from both schools play Puget Sound League playoff games on Friday, Jan. 23, at the Lincoln Bowl in Tacoma. Peninsula (3-8, 3-7 PSL) plays Bellarmine at 5:30 p.m., while Gig Harbor (7-7, 6-5) plays River Ridge at 6:30 p.m.

The sport has exploded in popularity around the country, with participation number steadily rising.

The WIAA offered a pilot flag football program last year before sanctioning it as an official sport in 2025-26.

“Girls flag football is such a great sport and vehicle to teach valuable lessons that players can carry with them long after their playing days are over,” Gig Harbor coach Kale Wong said. In the fall, Wong is the defensive coordinator for the boys football team.

The Gig Harbor High flag football team.

The rules

Flag football features the speed and technical skill of tackle football, only without blocking and tackling.

Instead, plays end when defenders pull off flags that are attached to belts around the players’ waists. That reduces injuries to the head and wear-and-tear on knees, ankles and hips.

The game is based more on hand-eye coordination and flat-out speed than physicality and strength.

Teams play 7-on-7 on a 50-yard field with 10-yard end zones. The field is divided into three “first-down zones.” The offense gets four downs to advance the ball into the next first down zone or to score a touchdown.

Of fourth down, the offense can either go for it or declare a punt. The ball isn’t kicked, though, it automatically goes to the opponent’s five-yard line in a change of possession.

The Gig Harbor Tides huddle during a game this season. Photo courtesy of Vincent Starr

Touchdowns still count for six points. After a touchdown, a team can opt to attempt the conversion from five, 10 or 17 yards out for one, two or three points.

The added scoring options provide ample opportunity for teams to rally from large deficits at the end of games.

Teams play two 20-minute halves, making for quick games. Local teams played two games per night in league play.

Seahawks have flag bragging rights

The Tides and Seahawks play in the tough Puget Sound League, which boasts three of the top 11 Class 3A teams in the state. Lincoln is No. 4 in the WIAA’s RPI rankings, followed by No. 9 Silas and No. 11 Mount Tahoma.

Gig Harbor has been on the upswing lately. The Tides defeated Mount Tahoma, 44-21, on Jan. 15 and nearly knocked off Silas in a 9-7 loss on Jan. 13. They followed up with Jan. 20 wins over Bellarmine (28-21) and Capital (21-7) at Roy Anderson Field.

Coach Brent Campbell’s Peninsula Seahawks, meanwhile, have local bragging rights thanks to a 14-7 win over Gig Harbor on Jan. 6.

Gig Harbor quarterback Maddie Harding throws a spiral against Silas. Photo courtesy of Vincent Starr

Key players for the Seahawks include Sydney Smith, Grace Tucker, Fiona Bean and Jenna McCabe.

The Seahawks have struggled on offense, averaging 7.3 points per game in league play. But their defense is fifth-best in the league, allowing just 13 points per outing.

The Tides’ jet motion offense averages 21.9 points per game, second-best in the PSL. Tides quarterback Maddie Harding, running back EmmaLee Snell and center Haeli Nuuhiwa-Alob “are the key players and the reason for most of our offensive success,” Wong said.

Gig Harbor allows 16.3 points per game, seventh-best in the league. The Tides feature Brianna Ramirez at outside linebacker, Lauren Keck at cornerback and Halle Torres at free safety.

Wong said beating Mount Tahoma and playing Silas tough gave his girls confidence heading into the playoffs. “If we play our style of game we can compete with anyone,” he said.

Gig Harbor running back Emmalee Snell looks up field. Photo courtesy of Vincent Starr

Peninsula bowlers learning from a pro

Peninsula bowling coach Kristy Whitcher has the Seahawks (10-5) on the rise, aiming for strikes and a district tournament birth.

Three seniors lead the Seahawks: Janelle Ramones, who has the third-highest average in the league at 166; Angelina Brambila, who averages a 134; and Elisha Calaunan, who averages 130. Junior Allison Angels averages 141 and her sister, freshman Jillian Angels, averages 130 pins per 10 frames.

Peninsula is fourth in the Puget Sound League Nisqually Division, which Whitcher said may be one of the state’s toughest leagues. Timberline, Capital and River Ridge have combined to post a 36-7 record this season.

The bowling teams from Peninsula and Gig Harbor pose together after the Seahawks’ 4-1 win on Dec. 16.

League championships

Peninsula started the season out with some quality early wins, then hit a rough patch with a loss to Lincoln (2-9). Whitcher said that was “hard to explain. I don’t know if it was nerves or what, but we lost to a couple of teams that we probably shouldn’t have.”

The Seahawks rebounded to knock off Gig Harbor (4-8), 4-1, on Dec. 16 and have been consistently good during the last few weeks of the season. “I’d rather peak at the end of the year than at any other time,” Whitcher said.

The league championships started Friday, Jan. 23, at All Star Lanes in Silverdale. Whitcher feels like Peninsula has a good chance to advance to district as a team. “We can do it, we just have to not have too many open frames, relax and keep the ball in play,” she said.

The top 10 individual bowlers in the league advance to districts if their team does not advance.

Whitcher said Ramones took all the advice she could offer over the years and even wanted more. Ramones went home and looked up professional bowlers on YouTube to study their strokes and release points.

“She’s the first bowler I’ve ever had that was going on line at night to learn even more about her sport,” Whitcher said. “She’s a leader that’s very positive. She never speaks down to anyone and will even take her time to help freshman bowlers improve. You would never know she’s our best bowler because she’s so humble.”

Janelle Ramones had the third highest average of any bowler in the Puget Sound League.

From player to coach

Ramones and the other Seahawks can learn a lot about bowling from Whitcher, who criss-crossed the country knocking down pins for years as a touring professional.

She hung up her shoes after the pandemic and hasn’t bowled much since. “I bowl to win and after the bowling alleys closed for a couple of years, I wasn’t at a point to compete like I wanted to, so I let it go.”

She has turned her competitive fire into coaching the Seahawks with her assistant coach and husband Dave.

But Whitcher is obsessed with her sport and that is a win for her girls. She has a wealth of knowledge and is the kind of coach that kids in high school are lucky to have.

During a recent phone conversation, Whitcher discussed the intricacies of foot slides, hitting arrow points, proper entry angles, pocket approaches, spin revs and how to carry pins. Just from that interview, I felt like my average is bound to increase by 20 pins.

Kristy Whitcher

Saving her sport

Asked why she coaches, Whitcher took a deep breath before saying, “For oh so many reasons. … to see kids improve and be successful. But also I don’t want my sport to die. That’s the whole reason I got into this, I want my sport to live on.”

“Bowling centers are closing one by one by one and when I’m gone I want my kids to keep bowling and put their kids in junior bowling. It’s a great sport, it really is.”

That passion has built a successful program in a town without a regulation bowling alley. The Whitchers have breathed life into a program that had just four bowlers five years ago.

This year, 18 girls turned out for the team. Peninsula has a full JV squad and even a “C” team coached by volunteer assistant Jose Brambila.