By Kyle LoJacono
The Steinbrenner flag football team missed making the playoffs for the first time last year by chance — literally.
The Warriors finished in a three-way tie for the last two spots in the district tournament. A chance drawing sent Gaither and Wharton to the postseason, while Steinbrenner had to wonder about what went wrong.
“It’s something we’ve thought about a lot since then, and it’s the ultimate goal for the girls to get to the playoffs,” said first-year Warriors coach Gregg Puskas. “We were very frustrated with how it ended. The team this year has put forth the idea of being the first team to make the playoffs.”
One reason the postseason is in sight for Steinbrenner is it returns all but one player. Turnover is high in flag football as most girls don’t pick it up for a couple years or forgo their senior season if they have a college scholarship for other sports to not risk injury.
“I feel like we’re 10-times better than we were last year,” said junior linebacker Alysaa Dawson. “We’ve got a lot of players back who know the defense and the plays. We don’t have to learn things for the first time. We just have to polish things up.”
Other key returners include all-Western Conference selections Morgan Melatti and Cary Anne Bame, along with junior quarterback Alexandra Fernandez.
“Last year I was figuring out the rules and learning the plays,” said Fernandez, who threw for 1,157 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2011. “Last year I’d go to the sidelines and coach Puskas would call the play and I wouldn’t get it. I’d have to think about what to do. Now I’ve called the plays so many times I know exactly what to do.”
Puskas is also accustomed to the program, spending last year as an offensive assistant.
The Warriors also add young talent, including freshmen starters Remi Brantley and Jessica Taylor.
“We have a bunch of girls who are really committed,” said Taylor, a wide receiver. “A lot of people think it’s a joke because it’s girls, but we’re a team and we care a lot about winning and each other.”
The squad had 45 girls attending 6 a.m. conditioning before school to prepare for the season.
“It was an awesome thing to have girls that committed to the sport,” Puskas said. “You know it means something to them. They aren’t out here going through the motions. They want to win.”
Steinbrenner has created a winning tradition in the school’s three-year history, including four district championships this year alone. That competiveness is rubbing off on the flag football program.
“I saw the girls basketball team win districts for the first time this year,” Dawson said. “I thought we can do the same thing this same year. We can put our year up there on the banner and come back in 20 years and see that we’re the ones who started it.”
Taylor added, “I think we have a good enough team for that to start this year. We just have to keep our heads up, grow as a team and strive to be the best. If we do that we will be the best.”
The Warriors have to navigate one of the toughest districts in the state. District 16 includes Freedom, which has two district championships and has made the playoffs every year since Hillsborough County sanctioned flag football in 2007. Gaither has also never missed the postseason.
District 16 also includes Alonso, which finished as the state runner-up the last two years.
“I talk a lot with Alonso’s coach (Matt Hernandez), and I use that opportunity to learn from him because he’s the best in the area,” Puskas said. “We want to get to that level not just this year, but every year.”
Fernandez said the tough district will make them stronger.
“If we played bad teams we won’t get better,” Fernandez said. “Playing the hard teams sets the bar high, and we have to keep going up and up to meet that.”
Steinbrenner opens the season hosting Plant on Tuesday, March 20 before traveling to district rival Leto on Thursday, March 22. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
