Solape Obasa is waiting for her chance to catch the football and sprint as she stands on a green turf field at a sports complex in the southern part of Winnipeg.

But as part of a brand-new high school girls flag football league, the 17-year-old from Winnipeg’s Elmwood High School had to fight for the chance to play on the field at all before she could wait.

Since the boys play football, I’ve always thought it’s a good idea for girls to play flag football. In an interview, Obasa remarked, “I’ve always questioned why there weren’t any girls on the team.

The teen doesn’t call herself a football fan, but said she loves to jump at trying something new that taps into her athletic abilities.

But that opportunity ran into a roadblock at Elmwood High, which previously had a boys tackle football squad but nothing on the gridiron for girls.

Obasa and other students pushed staff to establish a girls flag football team. They were told if they could find 15 participants ready to play, they would be in.

It didn’t take much for the team to fill up, said the team’s head coach, Zhanna Samborski.

She credits the speed of the game, the camaraderie of the sport and the chance for girls to “elbow (their) way into a male-dominated field” as the reasons for the interest.