PHOENIX – For Desiree Holton, her sport isn’t just about the rivalries or games on the field. Instead, girls flag football is a sisterhood that’s about redefining gender stereotypes. 

“We've all gone through the same childhood,” Holton said. “Being told football is a guy's sport, but now we're out here showing that football is also a girls' sport.” 

Coming from a football family, Holton said she got introduced to the game by throwing a ball around with her sister on the sideline while her brothers practiced. 

“I would always throw the football, try and get involved,” Holton said. “I just loved the sport myself, so I wanted to get into it.” 

Once a player and now the junior varsity head coach at Casteel High School, Holton says she wants to empower females to prove football isn’t just a man’s game. 

Alongside varsity head coach Rae Black, Holton leads a charter flag football program unlike many of the 132 varsity teams in Arizona. Since its inception as a varsity sport in the Fall of 2023, Casteel boasts female head coaches for its JV and varsity units, an achievement that Black says is a struggle for women to attain in 2025, even if they offer unique leadership that no male coach can.

“When I have to talk to referees, sometimes when people talk to me, they just assume you don't know what you're doing,” Black said. “Somebody had to do it, so they just got you out there.” 

Despite playing football in a women’s league at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, Black says she today faces questions about her knowledge and credibility in the game.

Yet, she says she’s used to being treated differently as a woman in general society. 

“You grow up like that as a woman,” Black said. “Whether it's the work environment or just at the grocery store, people just talk to you like that. It's almost like they want to test the waters until you snap on them.”

However, growing up and being raised by a single dad, Black’s father, Ray, taught her to remain respectful and professional regardless of the return. 

“I expect respect back,” Black said. “I don't always get it, but I'm going to continue to give the respect to them. That's just how I am.” 

Holton said she, too, has been mistreated, not receiving the same attention on the field as her male counterparts.

“Girls really don't get the support that the guys do,” Holton said. “We are looked down on sometimes.”

As for why girls are underrepresented in flag football – out of 132 Arizona flag football programs, 21 have female head coaches, according to the Arizona Interscholastic Association – Black thinks stereotypes about experience are to blame for the low numbers.

“We are not the experts,” Black said. “We haven't been playing since we were eight and out in the front yard playing football. We are playing Barbies or something else.” 

While women like Black are exposed to football later in life, she says boys start playing at a younger age and naturally understand the game at a higher level. 

“It’s not a secret,” Black said. 

Even with a late start, Black said it’s possible to catch up to a male coach with 20 years of experience through hard work and determination. 

“We take coaching clinics and we better ourselves, and that's all that you could do,” Black said. “You build your experience up.” 

Yet, Black believes schools with limited budgets still prioritize hiring male coaches.

“If I'm gonna have to pick someone, I'm probably gonna lean toward someone who has experience,” Black said. “That's just regular common sense.”

Instead of solely hiring a male coach, Black says adding a female volunteer would do miracles for young women playing the game. 

“If there's a teacher who's very supportive, put on the staff, let her manage, so we can get women more involved,” Black said. 

However, unlike their male counterparts, female assistants can enter the locker room.

“The school doesn't want the locker room unattended,” Black said. “When you can't go in there, then you can't control.”

Given teenagers' nature, Black says even a simple incident in a locker room without supervision may cause a slippery situation for the school. 

“It's beneficial to have someone go in there and be like, ‘Hey, guys, knock it off,’’’ Black said. 

Besides the locker room, Black says there are certain intangibles when females coach other females.  

“Women are good at identifying other things in younger women than maybe a male coach might be,” Black said. 

Her players also express a unique level of trust, she said.

“They may tell Coach Desiree something that they're not going to tell their mom,” Black said. “A parent is going to be a parent, maybe they don't want to hear that.”

If a player secretly has a boyfriend, Black said, they might approach her before going to a parent.

“You give them good advice and try to guide them like that,” Black said. “We get those opportunities, which is a blessing.” 

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While Black and Holton inspire change on the field, players like senior Angel Griego see them as leaders and trailblazers for a maturing group of young women. 

“It’s important to have a woman as a mentor,” Griego said. “When girls don’t very often see women leading, they may feel like they can't or aren’t supposed to be in that position.” 

Despite missing her senior season due to injury, Griego looks up to women she can often relate to.

“They look at us as their idols,” Holton said. “When we're in practice, the girls are constantly wanting to one-on-one me and see my talent on the field. That's just like the fun part of having girl coaches. We just have this connection with the girls rather than male coaches.” 

With the support of the program she’s built, Black says she wants to leave an impact on all those under her wing.

“Keep it classy,” Black said. “You'll see different things. You'll see different girls do different things. Be a leader, not a follower. Be a good sport in general, win or lose.”