Southwestern College has inked its first flag football player in school history.
Quarterback Miranda Dooley was in Winfield Thursday afternoon for the Builders’ first-ever on-campus flag football signing.
Dooley comes to Winfield from Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she played flag football for her school. She also competed in track.
Dooley, who threw for 1,371 yards and 38 touchdowns her junior year — along with 813 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground — received offers from Kansas Wesleyan and Midland University before selecting SC.
Southwestern announced the addition of flag football in January. The inaugural season will be spring 2024.
The addition will become the 19th competitive athletic offering at Southwestern College, according to the athletic department.
“Southwestern College is excited to be on the leading edge of this fast-growing and exciting sport,” SC Athletic Director Jamie Adams said in January. “Flag football is an emerging sport at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics level and offers a new experience for student-athletes on our campus.”
The NAIA named women’s flag football an emerging sport in 2020, and has seen the participation in the offering grow since then. Southwestern will become the 20th institution to start an NAIA women’s flag football program since the sport’s inception in 2020, and they will join Bethel, Ottawa, Kansas Wesleyan and Saint Mary as another KCAC representative for the sport.
The Builders will play against the aforementioned KCAC institutions, along with both Midland University (Neb.) and Cottey College (Mo.).
On Jan. 17, SC announced the hiring of Noah Harris as the program’s first head coach.
“We are thrilled to be bringing on Noah Harris as the first women’s flag football coach in Southwestern College history,” Adams said in the news release for Harris. “He brings a wealth of experience and success to the position as a former long-tenured high school head coach, and we are excited to see the heights to which he can take our new program.”
it’s official ????????⬛@devinalytle @SCWomensFlag @FlagFB_SV @PangCoach @mteal24 pic.twitter.com/MCEvhyib1J
— miranda dooley (@mirandadooley99) April 7, 2023
