ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A new local summer flag football team has launched, aiming to prepare girls for their upcoming school seasons as the sport continues its rapid growth in the Rochester area.
Henrietta’s 585 Valkyrie flag football team launches travel program as coach Jared Gerbino eyes Olympic qualification“It’s really crazy and I love that. It’s just growing. And I hope that a lot of girls just see how amazing the sport is,” rising freshman Gianna Sommer said.
From non-existent to omnipresent, flag football has exploded in popularity at the high school ranks. Five years ago, Section V didn’t have any varsity teams, now–we have section champions, region champions, state champions and even Olympic hopefuls?
“Right now I’m just flying out every month to Italy, in Europe to perform in tournaments. And in August, we have our world championships where hopefully we can make it to the Olympics,” Gerbino said.
EXTENDED INTERVIEW: Joseph Ortiz and Jared Gerbino585 Valkyrie head coach, Jared Gerbino plays for the Italian National team. He can qualify for the 2028 LA Olympics in August.
“It’s pretty much a dream come true,” Gerbino said.
Ten years ago though, Gerbino’s dream was winning a Section V championship alongside fellow coach Joseph “Jo-Jo” Ortiz. Gerbino was the quarterback, Ortiz his receiver at Rush-Henrietta, both graduating in 2015. Now they’ve teamed up again to help girls excel at flag football.
“We started off at the rec center, and then it flourished to Jared’s going off to Italy and playing for the international team and getting better in that. We want to really blow the sport of flag football up. And so that’s how it all kinda started,” Ortiz said.
The 585 Valkyrie program has 34 athletes across three age groups: 12U, 14U and 18U. Players come with varying degrees of experience.
“It’s small things like you gotta remember, some of these girls are nine, ten years old, and I’m saying, like, line of scrimmage to them. It sounds like a different language. Sounds like I’m speaking Italian. What is the line of scrimmage? What does that mean? It’s a learning process for us as well. But, once they learn the game, they’re going to be really locked in and then they won’t have to worry about the A’s and B’s of it. They’ll just go to play and have fun,” Gerbino said.
“They’ve been pretty hard, I can’t lie. Like it’s been hot at practice and they’ve been working us like to our limits,” Barnes said.
“I’ve been burnt out, but that’s just a good thing. It just means I’m working hard, and I feel proud of myself for putting in the work and not missing out,” Cynthia Niang said.
The experienced coaching staff hopes to elevate Rochester flag football while keeping the focus on enjoyment.
“All in all, we want them to have fun, compete, and, take in their potential with what they’re doing,” Gerbino said.
The 585 Valkyrie will play their first games in August. YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 585 VALKYRIE BY GOING HERE.
Henrietta’s 585 Valkyrie flag football team launches travel program as coach Jared Gerbino eyes Olympic qualification WHEC.com.
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