Montana State alumni Taco Dowler and former teammate Adam Jones recently organized a girls flag football camp in Butte, drawing more than a hundred young athletes eager to learn the fundamentals of the fast‑growing sport.
A Growing Movement on the Gridiron
The camp’s success reflects a broader surge in high school girls flag football across Montana, where participation has exploded from just three schools in 2022 to 27 teams in the following season. Organizers said the turnout far outstripped Dowler’s initial estimate of about forty participants, underscoring the community’s appetite for the game.
Norah Cantrell, a camper from Kalispell who attends Glacier High School, said the chance to train alongside Dowler and Jones was a highlight of her summer, and she left the field convinced that flag football could be more than a summer pastime.
Rylee Erickson, the quarterback from Butte who helped run the camp, described the atmosphere as energetic and noted that the girls displayed a level of concentration that often surpasses that of many male counterparts.
Dowler observed that the participants were unusually focused, while Jones added that the talent on display was “remarkable for any age group,” reinforcing the notion that the sport’s ceiling is still rising.
Both mentors said they can already picture their own daughters someday following the same path, and they remain optimistic that the momentum will carry the sport into collegiate opportunities and beyond.