Troy Vincent Sr.

There was no place for girls as what we would call on the football playing field.

So as time went on, she dreamed, but her access quickly vanished.

Today, a father of five, not so young kids anymore, five different dreams, five different personalities, five different aspirations, and five levels of complete drama.

I have had my fair share of carpools and sport practices.

Our oldest child, Desiree, our oldest daughter, our beautiful daughter, Desiree has always had this hunger and this competitiveness about her.

Can throw a pretty good spiral by the time Des was seven.

Des was smart.

Desiree was agile.

Many would consider her slightly tough.

Desiree played a ton of football in the backyards with her brother and friends.

By the time Desiree turned 10, the opportunity to keep playing quickly vanished.

It wasn't because Desiree lost interest.

Desiree lost access.

Meanwhile,

her brothers, our sons, they had the opportunity to continue to play at both the high school level and the collegiate level.

I realized that I was teaching my sons life lessons of toughness, building grit,

telling them not to cry.

And quickly, I realized that I was just reinforcing this thing called the man box, where I was teaching my sons one thing, but then yet reinforcing that boys get to compete and girls get to cheer.

It was at that time I realized that the system was broken.

Fast forward 30 years, flag football has truly emerged as this dynamic, all-inclusive sport.