


The Tamalpais Union High School District has reversed a previous decision to delay a girls flag football program until next year.
The district had planned to wait until the fall of 2026 to form teams at Redwood High School, Tamalpais High School and Archie Williams High School. Instead, the board voted unanimously Tuesday to start a team at Redwood this fall.
“I love the idea,” school principal Barnaby Payne said at the meeting. “Flag football is an exciting and fun sport. My understanding is that it’s one of the fastest growing sports in California.”
Pressley Meyers, 15, a student at Tamiscal High School, said she and her older sister, a Redwood student, are thrilled with the plan. Tamiscal is next to Redwood and its students are permitted to participate in Redwood sports, she said.
“I already play on a women’s rugby team with Marin Highlanders,” Meyers said. “Having flag football will be a great place for me and my fellow students.”
Neha Pyle, a parent of two girls at Redwood who want to play flag football, said she was pleased with the decision.
“One of my girls is a rising junior, so it’s really important to us for her to get an extra year of play,” Pyle said.
The change came after intense lobbying earlier this year by Mark Gilbert, a San Rafael resident who is a girls flag football booster. Gilbert accused the Tam Union district of violating Title IX, the federal equal opportunity sports law, and told the district there was no reason to delay a Redwood team.
Gilbert and his daughter Ellie, a flag football player at Terra Linda High School, testified to the Tam Union board that Redwood had enough interested students to launch a team. Nonetheless, officials said they would stick with the plan to form teams at the three high schools next year.
On Tuesday, the district did not explain its change of position.
“I’m currently following up with the law firm we previously spoke with to determine whether their discussions with the school’s legal counsel had any influence on the recent developments,” Gilbert said Wednesday.
The California Interscholastic Federation approved girls flag football as an official high school sport in 2023. The organization is the statewide body that governs high school athletics.
In 2023-24, the first year of statewide play, Marin only had teams at San Marin and Terra Linda high schools. This past year, Marin added teams at Novato and San Rafael high schools.
Gilbert said he is gratified that his persistent efforts led the Tam Union trustees to change their minds and start the Redwood High School team this fall.“This process has not been easy,” Gilbert said. “It’s often extremely frustrating when the school board limits public engagement to comment periods only.”
Gilbert said there “are moments when you feel powerless — when the board ignores your concerns and requests. But seeing real progress now is incredibly rewarding.”
The cost for adding girls flag football will be $15,000 per team for the first year, said Corbett Elsen, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services.