Hometown Hero

MINERAL WELLS — Our first Hometown Heroes are pint-sized and packed with girl power!
Kenzi Woolf, 9, Brynn Paxston, 9, and Brentlie Coffman, 8, represent Mineral Wells on the Black Widows flag football team. Last weekend they played in the first all-girls flag football tournament held in an NFL arena at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The team trained with former New Orleans Saint and Green Bay Packer Demetri Goodson leading up to the tournament. Now retired, Goodson is a professional trainer in Brock, Texas. He said he was impressed with the girls gridiron skills and sportsmanship.
“Those practices were really cool to see,” Goodson said. “The girls really love each other and they’re hard workers. I left there with my mind blown as to just how talented they are.”
The tournament was hosted by Flag Football X which has been promoting the Black Widows to advocate for more girls flag football teams in schools. The organization made a video of Brentlie that went viral with about 24 million views on Instagram, TikTok and SportsCenter combined.
“Girls are taking advantage of this time right now to get ready for when flag football becomes an official UIL high school sport,” said Dennis Freels, Flag Football X founder. “We want to provide a place for girls to be able to compete and prepare for the coming tsunami.”
Freels said flag football is being considered as an Olympic sport for the 2028 games in Los Angeles. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics declared women’s flag football as an emerging sport in 2020. The National Junior College Athletic Association did the same last year.
Some high schools in other school districts have flag football teams, but not Mineral Wells – yet.
“I think this will pave the way for girls flag football,” said Randi Woolf, Kenzi’s mom. “It shows them that girls can do anything.”
The Black Widows got started about two months ago.The girls played volleyball and basketball together in the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association, but begged their parents to let them play football. The moms and dads relinquished with flag football to avoid any risks associated with tackling.
“We just threw a team together and they went out there and owned the sport,” said Rachelle Coffman, Brentlie’s mom.
However, they couldn’t find other girls teams to play, so up until last weekend, they competed against boys.
“It’s fun beating boys,” Brentlie said.
Her teammate agreed. “My favorite moment is winning,” added Kenzi.
For more information about girls flag football and to watch Brentlie’s viral video, go to www.flagfootballx. com.