![Minutes before the Activities Fair in the gym, president Abhi Gowda ‘26 prepares the stall for his club Helping Hands, Sept. 4. A relatively new club, Helping Hands was co-started by Gowda and focuses on assisting the homeless, and just last year they succeeded in raising a couple hundred donations to send to shelters. This year, they have goals to expand, with hopes to increase volunteer opportunities and take in-person trips to shelters, as well as extend their help beyond just homeless people. “The Activities Fair gives a lot of underclassmen the opportunity to really get to know the Canyon culture, and it gives them many opportunities for service and volunteering,” Gowda said. “[Through the Activities Fair,] I hope to find a bunch of new and passionate members about our club and just get our name out there and spread awareness to the cause that we’re fighting for.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-2-1200x885.jpg)
![The winter guard team makes fifth place at the state championship finals in the Denver Coliseum, March 30. The team performed to Barnes Country's “Glitter and Gold,” lead by coaches Margo Sanford, Blair Bickerton and Anna Orgren. In their class there were a total of nine groups participating, and the top five who made it to finals received a plaque. “[Walking onto the stage] is very nerve-wracking, but also very exciting as well. When you first start color guard there's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty when you first perform in front of an audience, but once you've done it for a while, it starts to become the best part of the season,” Ella West ‘25 said. “It's very fulfilling to see an audience react to something you've put your heart and soul into.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Both-socal-media-nd-website-main-1-1200x846.jpg)
![April marks the 25th anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, created by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). This month is to spread awareness of the harassment, assault and abuse that happens around the world. The symbol that represented the month was a teal ribbon; however, some survivors of assault create different symbols and movements like the TikTok trend in 2022, where survivors would tattoo Medusa on their body, in honor of her backstory in Greek Mythology. “I don't think [this month is known] at all. I rarely see anybody talk about it. I rarely see much of an emphasis on posting it online, or much discussion about it, and I feel like there needs to be way more discussion,” an anonymous source said. “I think just validating every experience that a person has gone through, regardless of the degree of it, the severity, is an essential step into making sure that people are aware that this is a very real problem in a society and that we need to do better in addressing it.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_0011-1200x900.jpg)
From neighborhood parks to travel club teams to high school teams, girls from all around the nation are taking part in an emerging sport: girls flag football.
With the funding and support from the National Football League (N.F.L), girls flag football has become a sanctioned high school varsity sport in 17 states across the nation. States such as Florida and California have been highly influential, as they have led the nation as the first two states to adopt the sport.
“Flag football at Rock Canyon has brought a positive impact and formed a community throughout the program,” Piper Milley ‘28 said.
In 1994, N.F.L Flag began holding youth camps where they educated girls and boys about the sport. Soon after, flag football leagues began to arise, starting in Massachusetts. By the time the 2000s came around the corner, athletes all around the nation began to take part in the sport. As of 2025, 800,000 girls and boys around the United States participate in N.F.L Flag.
N.F.L Flag has dedicated part of its program to girls flag football, creating more opportunities for female athletes to participate in the sport.
The Denver Broncos have supported girls flag football in addition to the N.F.L. On Oct. 16, 2023, the Denver Broncos hosted the second annual high school girls flag football state championship. The Broncos have hosted further events supporting high school girls flag football such as the 2025 Jamboree’s, including play between different schools and visits from the Denver Broncos cheerleaders and alumni.
“Varsity girls flag attended one of the jamborees in the beginning of the season. It was a great experience and special opportunity for good competition,” safety Ava Miller ‘27 said.
To show additional support to the rising sport, in the 2025 superbowl the N.F.L included a commercial pushing for girls flag football in all 50 states. The commercial featured N.F.L. alumni and current players Pat McAfee, Marshawn Lynch and Justin Jefferson. The short film is a play on the 1900’s high school atmosphere, with the boys on the football team growing frustrated watching the girls flag football tryouts. Eventually the girl trying out for flag jukes out all her opponents on the field, including a male, resulting in a touchdown.
JeffCo Public Schools, Denver Public Schools and Cherry Creek School District began to work with the Broncos in 2021 to get the sport to become a Colorado High School Activities Association (C.H.S.A.A.) sanctioned sport. On April 23, 2024 Girls Flag Football became an official C.H.S.A.A. sanctioned sport.
“The sport at Rock Canyon has grown significantly over the past year even at tryouts this year there was probably double the amount of girls from last year’s tryout,” wide receiver Anna Mundt ‘27 said.
Girls flag football will continue to grow as support from companies such as N.F.L. continues, with the N.F.L. goal of girls flag football in all 50 states.
“I look forward to coming to practice after school each day because I enjoy playing the sport that I have grown passion and skill for over the past two years of playing,” quarterback Alaiya Bugge ‘27 said.