Paloma Valley High School students defeated Liberty, Heritage and Perris high school teams in the inaugural Perris Union High School District (PUHSD) Flag Football Tournament held May 22 at Heritage High School.
The tournament brought together teams from across the district in a round-robin format and gave students an opportunity to compete ahead of the fall girls flag football season.
Girls flag football coach O’rell Colbert, who is also a special education teacher at Paloma Valley, led his team to a clean sweep.
In preparation for the event, Colbert held tryouts over three or four days. Once the team was selected, players practiced daily for about two weeks.
“The girls were hungry to play football,” he said. “They were coachable and they ultimately wanted to have fun.”
The tournament brought out a competitive spirit among the students, Colbert said, as players naturally wanted to represent their schools well.
“They had fun. It was a lot of smiling. Some teams brought out cheerleaders,” he said. “It brought everyone together.”
As girls flag football begins this fall, Colbert said he hopes to use the sport to teach life lessons beyond the field.
“As far as coaching, I’m going to help keep the morale up and make them understand that ultimately it’s a game, but at the same time you take these games as life lessons and you learn from it and grow,” Colbert said. “They’re going to make mistakes, and we have to be willing to understand their mistakes and teach them through those mistakes.”
Colbert said the tournament provided an opportunity for players to compete against other schools while building excitement as the sport continues to grow throughout the district.
