KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
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Anna Anderson grew to love football growing up in the Northland.
"When I was little in my neighborhood, all the boys would always play football every day," Anderson, a senior at Park Hill High School, said. "I went out and played sports with them 24/7."
Anderson's love for football ran so deep that her mom signed her up for a YMCA team in fourth grade.
"Technically, it was coed," she said. "But it was all guys; I was the only girl."
In other words, her presence — and her presence alone — made it a coed team.
"Basically, yeah," Anderson said with a laugh.
Now, she's one of the best girls flag football players in the country — a wide receiver for the Team USA U17 national team and the Chiefs' Girls Flag Football Player of the Year.
"I promise I did not expect any of this," Anderson said. "I just want to play my sport, and it just comes along with it, I guess."
As flag opportunities dried up, Anderson switched to tackle football in eighth grade and spent four years as a kicker for Park Hill.
"You're the girl on the boys team, so there's always going to be some awkwardness there," Trojans coach Andy Sims said. "The thing that she's done a fantastic job of is she hasn't gotten out of anything. She hasn't had any special treatment."
Anderson came to summer weights and hung out through grueling practices, even when her kicking skills were only required for a few periods. She won the Nathan Stiles Inspiration Award at the Simone Awards last month.
"That award really showed me that, wow, I've inspired a lot of people — even my teammates, like guys, and then just like little girls out there that I've inspired," she said. "It's amazing."
In other amazing developments, the Missouri State High School Activities Association, or MSHSAA, will seek input at meetings beginning later this month that could pave the way to add flag football as an school-sanctioned championship sport — and girls flag players have a high-profile supporter.
"That would be awesome —," Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said, "just to see flag football and how it's kind of swept the entire nation, to get the girls and the women involved and let them go out there and dominate and have fun."
When we showed Anderson video of Mahomes' remarks, she beamed: "Oh, my."
MSHSAA will conduct area meetings in each of the organization's eight board districts in the coming weeks.
MSHSAA Director of Communications Andrew Kauffman said the meetings will be used "to gauge feedback from school administrations. If feedback is positive, the proposal will move forward to be included on the annual ballot in April."
Member schools would have a chance to vote on whether to make girls flag football as an emerging sport and, if approved, schools would have the option to register for the sport with MSHSAA, which would provide a National Federation of State High School Associations rule book and certify girls flag football officials.
There would not be a MSHSAA championship yet, but, if at least 50 schools in at least three of MSHSAA's eight districts register for girls flag football team, it would trigger another vote that could grant the sport fully interscholastic status.
While she won't be able to vie for a state title, Park Hill — and Park Hill South — will join the 24 Kansas City-area schools that sponsored a girls flag football team last season, so Anderson — who also plays basketball in addition to football — will get to play for the Trojans this spring.
"Watching her over the summer on TV doing her thing (with the U17 national team), that's what's great about it for me," Sims, who hopes to coach the girls flag team, said. "Everybody that loves Anna, loves watching her play. I got the opportunity to watch her on the basketball court, but this spring she's going to be able to go out there and play for school and play in Kansas City. That's going to be a lot of fun."
Perhaps future Trojans will get to play for a state title, too.
"To think that me and other girls my age have paved the way for that is just inspiring in a way,” Anderson said. “We've set the groundwork, and now they get to come and have fun and compete."
Who knows? That may one day include Sterling or Golden Raye Mahomes competing for the state crown.
"Sterling can throw a football," her dad said, "so I'm sure she'll be very interested if we can get in Missouri."
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