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Athletic Department Introduces Inaugural Season of Girls' Flag Football

he Ranney School Athletic Department introduced a new varsity sport this season in the Upper School, as the Panthers joined the growing number of schools that have added girls’ flag football. The Shore Conference has increased from eight girls’ flag football teams to 30 recently, with Ranney being part of the wave of growth. In January of 2026, the NCAA added women’s flag football as an emerging sport, which has even furthered to bolster the upward trend of the sport. 
 
Rumson-Fair Haven, which started its program in 2021, has won the last three Shore Conference Tournament titles. In addition to Ranney and Rumson-Fair Haven, the Shore Conference girls’ flag football teams include Holmdel, Middletown South, Keansburg, Middletown North, St. John Vianney, Matawan, Raritan, Long Branch, Hendry Hudson, Trinity Hall, Colts Neck, Red Bank Catholic, Shore, Neptune, Freehold Township, Marlboro, Manalapan, Freehold Boro, Barnegat, Pinelands, Central, Manasquan, New Egypt, Brick Memorial, Howell, Brick, Manchester, and St. Rose. 

The inaugural Ranney girls’ flag football team includes members Annabelle Bruhn ‘29, Kayleigh Buckley ‘29, Charlotte Ceruss ‘27i, Rani DePastene ‘29, Lexi Kruse ‘29, Mary Cate Leidersdorff ‘29, Kayla Matos ‘28, Mae O’Neil ‘27, Phoenix Purnell ‘29, Olivia Steinberg ‘29, Holden Chropuvka ‘29,  and Hope Windos ‘29.  

“I absolutely love being a part of the flag football team at Ranney,” said Mary Cate Leidersdorff ‘29. 

“Playing for a brand-new program can be difficult, but the environment on our team is always positive and uplifting. I initially joined because I wanted to help Ranney build a new program for all of the girls who will wear our jerseys after us. It is definitely a ‘growing year,’ but our coaches and Mrs. Gorman have done so much to support our team to ensure that we all have a great year. Throughout the season, we have learned much about what it means to be a team: showing up, being communicative, and listening to each other. Even though we are still building, the effort, energy, and bond we share make every practice and game worth it, and I’m proud to be part of something that will continue to grow long after the season ends.” 

“I have been watching the growth of girls' flag football in New Jersey and the Shore Conference over the past three years,” said Athletic Director Natalie Cocchi Gorman.  “Our athletic department is really proud to be a part of this incredible girls’ sport and I am so proud of our female athletes that tried something new this spring.  We only lost our first game to Marlboro: 21-20 and it was an incredibly exciting game! Our coaches Ian Farber and Mauri Horton have done an amazing job teaching this new game to our athletes and I look forward to our team continuing to develop.  The entire student body is also very excited about this new team. We featured a faculty versus students flag football game at our spring pep rally and it was a huge success; all of our Panthers from the Lower Schoolers to 12th graders were cheering on our athletes and faculty during the game.  We know this will be an exciting new way to connect our students to our athletic department across all three divisions at Ranney.”

“I've really enjoyed being part of the inaugural girls' flag football season, especially getting to help build something new with the team,” said Kayleigh Buckley ‘29. “I joined because I love competing and wanted to challenge myself in a different way. I've learned that progress is all about establishment--you take it one step at a time, and over time it turns into accomplishment. Once something is truly established through perseverance, it becomes something strong that can't easily be broken.”  
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society. 

We envision Ranney School as a nurturing learning community, in which families, faculty, alumni, and all of Ranney’s constituents collaborate to know and value every child, foster individual talents, sustain powerful connections between children and adults, and graduate resilient, globally-minded citizens.