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Salpointe added girls flag football last winter "with the sport growing at meteoric rates," said head coach Barrie Pedersen, who's also a coach for Tucson Turf Elite, a renowned national championship-winning flag football program in Tucson. 

Over 100 girls — some with flag football experience and others who wanted to pursue another sport — arrived for the first meeting. 

"We had to build it from the ground up," Pedersen said. "After that initial interest meeting, we rolled into summer workouts and summer tournaments and started teaching the girls the game."

In the program's first season, the Lancers waltzed to a Class 4A state championship and finished the year with a 16-1 record. Salpointe took down Mesa Eastmark, 17-0, in the Class 4A state championship. The Lancers outscored their opponents 668-62 this season — 44 of those points were in a blowout loss to Marana, Salpointe's only setback of the season. Marana has a 44-4 record since its first season in 2023.  

Salpointe was led by superstar freshman Isla Collins, who completed 76% of her passes for 2,319 yards, 47 touchdowns and three interceptions. She also led the Lancers with 841 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. As a defensive back, she had 27 tackles and a team-high 10 interceptions.

The Lancers became the first Southern Arizona team to win a girls flag football state championship. Pedersen said Salpointe's state title run "is tough to put into words." 

"I guess one word would be remarkable," the Salpointe head coach said. "Starting from zero and getting all the way to the state title game in a matter of six months is pretty impressive. It says a lot about the girls and a lot about the coaching staff that we've put together for this team." 

Pedersen recently joined "Spears & Ali" on ESPN Tucson to discuss Salpointe's run to the state championship, among other topics. 

Are most of your players flag football-only athletes or are they multi-sport athletes and you capitalized on adding players from successful sports programs at Salpointe Catholic? 

A: "We are the beneficiary of having the best girls soccer program in the state, a fantastic softball program, a great basketball team and a great track program. All four of those sports, we have girls from each of them. We even have girls from girls wrestling. We have lots of athletes from the amazing teams at Salpointe that help us fill our roster." 

How was Collins able to quarterback Salpointe to a state championship as a freshman?

A: "She's fantastic. ... I've known Isla since she was about 7 or 8 years old. She's been playing flag football her whole life. She's physically capable of playing with the boys and does circles around them. ... She's always been special. She's got high-end speed, she's got a great IQ for the game because she plays so much. She's able to do whatever we ask her to do.

"She's not a quarterback by nature, but we needed a quarterback and she stepped up and did it. The fact that she was able to do it so well, having never played the position, it says a lot about her." 

Is it fair to say Collins is Salpointe's cornerstone player for the next three years?

A: "We're beyond excited about that, getting three more years with her. She has a lot of aspirations. She's also doing track. She's also in the U.S. national team pipeline for the Olympics. She's on the 15U U.S. national team currently. She's got a bright future in flag football, track and whatever she wants to do." 

What did your team learn from the experience of losing to Marana earlier in the season?

A: "The Marana game was the most important game of the season next to the state championship. I say that because we learned more about ourselves in that game more than the previous eight games.

"After that Marana game, we made some personnel adjustments and more than anything, the coaches adjusted the game plan and changed how we called the plays to make it easier for the girls. After that game, we played our best football, and it was because we had to take that loss.

"As much as we didn't want to lose to Marana, that loss propelled us to a state championship because we were able to make the adjustments that we hadn't been able to make." 

How has the Arizona Wildcats football program supported girls flag football, and how has the sport grown in the last few years?

A: "The tournament they put on over the summer was really cool. That was our first real experience playing, and we were able to learn a lot. I hope they continue to do that event and I hope it grows, which I'm sure it will. They've been supportive and let us use facilities for flag football tryouts for my club.

"As far as the growth of flag football and the sport, I've been around the sport for 10 years on a competitive level and the girls teams were few and far between. Now, when I go to a tournament, the girls tournaments are selling out. There are hundreds and thousands of girls playing the sport.

"It's going to continue to grow. It's been fun to watch it grow. It all started with that Olympics announcement. It's been fun to watch."