The Bears showed up in full force for the second Illinois High School Association girls flag football state championships last Saturday.
Hosted at Willowbrook High School, the state series featured the top eight teams out of more than 200 schools that competed this season — a testament to girls flag football's continuous growth after 154 schools participated last year in the inaugural IHSA season.
As catalysts for the sport's inception and rapid growth across Illinois, the Bears have continued to provide support despite no longer hosting tentpole events such as the state championships. This year, that support came in the form of several Bears executives on site and participating in the championship festivities Saturday, which culminated in Maine South defeating Whitney Young to hoist the first place trophy and Willowbrook beating Perspectives for third place.
"The second IHSA girls flag football state championships were a huge success and great showcase of the growth and development of the sport, with over 200 teams participating in the state series," director of football development Gustavo Silva said. "The support from the Bears was greatly appreciated and noticed with George H. McCaskey working with officials for the second year and Kevin Warren, Ted Crews, Karen Murphy and Tanesha Wade serving as honorary captains.
"I was grateful that our leadership was able to witness the impact of the support the organization has given the sport since 2021 when the pilot program launched, later leading to girls flag being sanctioned in 2024."