‘It’s around the corner’

The Diamonds on the Gridiron girls flag football program wrapped up a successful season which included its first-ever summer league, which featured four teams made up of girls throughout Rhode Island.
The program was started by Randy Phillips last spring with the intention of eventually making girls flag football a varsity high school sport in hopes of opening scholarship opportunities for female athletes in the state.
After hosting a camp in the spring and a tournament early in the summer, Diamonds on the Gridiron then kicked off its summer league to further the development of the athletes.
“We built something out of nothing. We wanted this thing to be a learning experience for everybody because girls flag football is coming to Rhode Island, it’s around the corner,” said Phillips, who estimates flag football becoming a varsity sport by 2026. “We wanted to get these girls together and to start playing the game now. In order to have a good competitive product, the girls need to have some awareness and understanding of the game.”
The summer league also introduced female coaches after they were shown the ropes leading up to the season.
“It’s a lot different because these women can now relate to these young girls. It’s great because they can be a support system for them,” said Phillips.
The league hosted four teams made up of seven players each. The Blue Team would win the championship and was coached by Aneliz Lazzareschi.
“It’s empowering for the girls to have a sisterhood, to help each other out while also being competitive through football,” said Lazzareschi.
The program will be hosting an end of the year banquet and is planning on creating some offseason camps to keep the ball rolling.
Phillips has been thrilled with the progress that the players have made to this point.
“It was a phenomenal feeling because that’s what we’re doing it for. Overall, when you see the growth of these girls from the first week to now, it’s crazy, they learned. I made sure the coaches understood that it’s not about winning, it’s about learning. What are we learning?” said Phillips.
Phillips is also hoping to eventually establish a mock league, which will hopefully provide the framework of what a varsity league would look like.
“When that mock league comes, it will give athletic directors the blueprint. Girls are not the focal point that they should be and we want to bring them to relevance,” Phillips said.
The program has also allowed the players to meet new faces and develop friendships both on and off the field. Many of the players spent time together this summer and the league also took a field trip to Gillette Stadium to watch the New England Patriots practice and play against the Philadelphia Eagles in a preseason contest.
“It was good to see them out there, smiling, getting autographs and meeting professional athletes. It was great to see them live out dreams that they otherwise would not have been able to without Diamonds on the Gridiron,” Phillips said.
For more information, Diamonds on the Gridiron can be found on social media, including Instagram.