JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the girls’ flag football season rising in the dawn in the Sunshine State, girls’ flag football teams are taking in the action of preseason events across the state and nearly 50 teams will participate in the 2024 Jaguars Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic on Friday and Saturday at EverBank Stadium and the Daily’s Place Multipurpose Flex Field, home of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

Throughout the past couple of years, the Jaguars have increased the number of teams participating in their Jaguars Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic which started with just a handful of teams and will now increase to almost 50 teams for the 2024 edition of the event.

Teams as far west as Fort Walton Beach through Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Daytona Beach will join the majority of teams from the Jacksonville area for the event where teams will get to shake off some of the rust and develop some team bonding experiences in preparing for the season’s first regular season date starting on Monday. Monday’s start date for the season will mark the earliest start to the flag football season in over the 20-year history of being a sanctioned sport in Florida.

The event will see some recognizable programs among the girls’ flag football landscape in Florida along with some new teams that will be fielding their first teams for the 2024 season.

Top Teams To Watch

Bradford (Starke) – A team that emerged into the spotlight last season after winning a district championship and a berth to the playoffs, will have plenty of talent returning for the season under new head coach Brock Canaday who is no stranger to flag football having helped establish the program at Baker County. Bradford was 16-1 overall in 2024.

Chiles (Tallahassee) – With longtime head coach Stan Goldstein retiring, the Timberwolves will have a slightly new look in coaching, but things are expected to remain the same as they have been one of the top teams in the Big Bend region of Florida for a longtime.

Choctawhatchee (Fort Walton Beach) – Finishing 18-3 overall in 2023 and the Class 1A state runner-up for the second straight season will be on hand with head coach Jim Bay leading the charge once again for the Indians and will be a favorite to make another deep run among teams across the Panhandle and North Florida this season.

Ed White (Jacksonville) – The Commanders were a strong team last year and had several athletes be a part of the Jaguars ALL-PREP team that culminated in a playoff berth after a run of wins in 2023.

Fleming Island – Home of the Jaguars ALL-PREP Coach of the Year and ALL-PREP Player of the Year last season, the Golden Eagles will once again be under the leadership of Clint Lyons who guided the program to their best finish in program history with a state runner-up finish in Class 2A.

Florida High (Tallahassee) – The Seminoles, who have flown under the radar most years, but they put together usually some respectable teams that are not afraid of competition and are in contention for playoff berths.

Lincoln (Tallahassee) – The Trojans who struggled in the back half of the 2023 season will be another top team to keep an eye on as they continue to do well on the field year in and year out with longtime head coach Brandon Youmans.

Mainland (Daytona Beach) – Making their deepest playoff run in program history in 2023, the Buccaneers have been one of the grittiest teams in Florida. Their deep playoff run finished in the state semifinals where they fell to eventual state champion, Robinson (Tampa).

Paxon (Jacksonville) – Going 13-4 last year and earning a playoff berth, the Golden Eagles should be one of the top teams in Duval County and the Jacksonville area for the 2024 season.

Spruce Creek (Port Orange) – With a 19-3 overall record in 2023, the Hawks made their deepest playoff run, reaching the regional finals before falling to eventual Class 2A state runner-up, Fleming Island.

Stanton (Jacksonville) – Making their deepest playoff run last season, the Blue Devils will have some new faces on the team in 2024, but there is still some experienced talent on the roster that has made the Blue Devils one of the top teams from Duval County.

New teams launching programs at event

Bartram Trail (St. Johns), Buchholz (Gainesville), Gainesville, and Global Outreach Charter (Jacksonville) will be the four teams that will be launching their programs at the 2024 Jaguars Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic.

Bartram Trail, will become the third high school in St. Johns County to launch a girls’ flag football program following St. Augustine and Menendez (St. Augustine) which have launched programs over the last few seasons.

For Alachua County rivals Buchholz and Gainesville, they will mark the second and third teams in the county to field teams. They follow the path set up by Santa Fe (Alachua) which launched their team last year that became the first program in Alachua County to do so in the process.

Global Outreach Charter will join the plethora of Duval County schools that already have been fielding flag football programs for many years giving programs in Jacksonville a new opportunity to add a new opponent to the schedule.

Other Participating Teams

Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville)

Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville)

Baldwin

Clay (Green Cove Springs)

Crescent City

Crestview

FAMU DRS (Tallahassee)

Fernandina Beach

First Coast (Jacksonville)

Flagler Palm Coast

Fletcher (Neptune Beach)

Interlachen

Keystone Heights

Mandarin (Jacksonville)

Matanzas (Palm Coast)

Middleburg

Oakleaf (Orange Park)

Palatka

Raines (Jacksonville)

Ribault (Jacksonville)

Rickards (Tallahassee)

Ridgeview (Orange Park)

Riverside (Jacksonville)

Sandalwood (Jacksonville)

Santa Fe (Alachua)

St. Augustine

University (Orange City)

Westside (Jacksonville)

Wolfson (Jacksonville)

Yulee

Friday Schedule

Daily’s Place Indoor Flex Field
Field 1 & Field 2
10 AM – Mandarin vs. Crestview; Spruce Creek vs. Keystone Heights
11 AM – Westside vs. Ed White; Raines vs. Rickards
NOON – Oakleaf vs. Andrew Jackson; Bartram Trail vs. Atlantic Coast
1 PM – Yulee vs. Palatka; Interlachen vs. Ribault
3 PM – Fleming Island vs. Chiles; FAMU DRS vs. Stanton
4 PM – Sandalwood vs. Fernandina Beach; Riverside vs. First Coast
5 PM – Clay vs. Fletcher; University vs. Ridgeview
6 PM – St. Augustine vs. Global Outreach Charter; Buchholz vs. Gainesville

EverBank Stadium
Field 3 & Field 4
10 AM – Oakleaf vs. Bartram Trail; Andrew Jackson vs. Atlantic Coast
11 AM – Yulee vs. Interlachen; Palatka vs. Ribault
NOON – Mandarin vs. Spruce Creek; Crestview vs. Keystone Heights
1 PM – Westside vs. Raines; Ed White vs. Rickards
3 PM – Clay vs. University; Fletcher vs. Ridgeview
4 PM – St. Augustine vs. Buchholz; Global Outreach Charter vs. Gainesville
5 PM – Fleming Island vs. FAMU DRS; Chiles vs. Stanton
6 PM – Sandalwood vs. Riverside; Fernandina Beach vs. First Coast

Saturday Schedule

EverBank Stadium
Field 1 & Field 2

10 AM – Lincoln vs. Middleburg; No Game on Field 2
11 AM – Lincoln vs. Pine Ridge; Wolfson vs. Crescent City
NOON – Santa Fe vs. Matanzas; Pine Ridge vs. Middleburg
1 PM – Santa Fe vs. Wolfson; Matanzas vs. Crescent City
2 PM – Choctawhatchee vs. Mainland; Florida High vs. Baldwin
3 PM – Paxon vs. Flagler Palm Coast; Choctawhatchee vs. Florida High
4 PM – Paxon vs. Mainland; Baldwin vs. Flagler Palm Coast