The Steelers Girls Flag Football season wrapped up another amazing year on Sunday when the Girls Flag Football Championship was held at Highmark Stadium.
A total of 16 teams qualified for the playoffs this season, with the first round of the playoffs held on Saturday at Shaler High School and Moon High School.
On Sunday, four teams advanced to the semi-finals, with Upper St. Clair and two-time defending champion Moon meeting in the championship game, which aired on KDKA+.
It would be Upper St. Clair who would prevail, 12-0, to take 2025 Steelers Girls Flag Football Championship in the fourth season of the football league.
"It's a great year, a special year," said Upper St. Clair Coach Ryan Huzjak, who has two daughters that play on the team. "I love football so much. It's been a huge part of my life. To be able to coach my daughters to a championship was a really special thing that I'll never forget."
The excitement was at a fever pitch as 'Renegade' blared over the speakers in celebration.
"I have no words," said Upper St. Clair's Emily Powell, who was named the Player of the Game. "This team is so together. We love each other. This is such a big moment. This is the best feeling in the world. A lot of our seniors left last year, and we just rallied together, we came together. This is the best feeling."
Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and former quarterback Charlie Batch were on hand for the trophy presentation, while former linebacker Arthur Moats did the color commentary for the game for KDKA+.
"I absolutely love it," said Moats. "When I first came to Pittsburgh, I saw how important youth football was and all the camps the team did. There would be a handful of ladies out there, but we really didn't have anywhere to send them to continue to play after camp. Now it has grown so much and really evolved. The Steelers have made it exciting for the girls to play the game.
"The game continues to grow too from a global standpoint, with them adding flag football as an Olympic sport. When I think of how this has evolved, I'm such a fan of it and glad to be a part of it in any capacity."
This past season the Steelers Girls Flag Football league grew to include 50 teams, up from 36 in 2024. The teams competed each Sunday over a six-week season.
"It's been amazing to jump up to 50 teams," said Mike Marchinsky, the Steelers Senior Manager of Alumni Relations and Youth Football. "There were schools that didn't even have a team last year that came out and were really competitive.
"There's growth, there's potential, and there are athletes that are in all of these school districts that just haven't had an opportunity to do it yet. So, it was special to finally have it move up to 50 schools."
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) has sanctioned girls flag football for the 2025-26 school year and will take over the league the Steelers have run after this season.
"We've enjoyed running it, but it's time for this to happen for the girls," said Marchinsky. "We're celebrating it with the big championship game this year. We've come a long way and we're proud to go from six teams to 50 teams that are participating and there is still a lot more growth to go."
The Steelers Girls Flag Football League kicked off in March with a fun-filled afternoon featuring six high school teams, as well as several local college teams, taking part in the Showcase Game of the Week at Saint Vincent College.
"The biggest shock to me is this year when we kicked off the season at Saint Vincent College, we were the first NFL team to pair high school games with college games," said Marchinsky. "That was something we really wanted to do, but to have it come together was amazing.
"Now to give them the opportunity to have the championship at Highmark Stadium, it's really special for the girls. We've always wanted to elevate and promote the game of football. That's our main goal, whether it's youth football, high school tackle or girls flag.
"To have it air on KDKA+, you might have somebody who was home watching it that lives in a school district that isn't participating, and they encourage their school to take part. It was a great opportunity to showcase it and help the sport grow even more."
