The Pratt Community College flag football team will kick off their 2024 season this weekend against Campbellsville University and Hesston College on Saturday, Mar. 2 in Hesston, Kan. This will be the first official games for the Beaver squad under the tenure of head flag football coach Felicia Tetter. Coach Tetter was hired last spring to lead the flag football program and immediately got started on recruiting a team for this academic year. We had a chance to sit down with Coach Tetter this past week to learn more about her team and the upcoming season. Games get underway on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and then 5:30 p.m.
What does it mean to you and your team to finally get to play your first games after about a year of preparation and building the program?
We are so excited as we have been working towards it and talking about it all year long, so the excitement and energy is through the roof. We have done a couple scrimmages, but it is different. These are our first games against competition and with officials and so we are excited to get going and show what we have. I think people will be very surprised.
Tell us more about your players as they are all freshman and new to Pratt CC and what are some players to watch out for?
Because it is a brand-new sport like our entire roster is freshman. We have two local Kansas girls that have never played flag football before but have worked all year to learn it. You will see them playing a lot. Our quarterback Nina Miramontes is from Nevada and is locked in, and our running back Aracely Lopez is so fast and deceptively speedy. On the defense, you will see Sakhiia Mason who dominates as middle linebacker and keeps everyone in check. We hope to play aggressive and fast.
Tell us more about your opening weekend opponents?
We had to fill our schedule with some NAIA schools as we have limited NJCAA schools to play. The game against Campbellsville should be a very good game and since everyone is so new to the sports you cannot go off from prior years, we believe we should be competitive with them. In our game against Hesston, we do know that they are one of the more established programs. Hesston is looking forward to seeing what our team brings this year and is looking for a more competitive game.
What are the expectations you have had this year for your program?
For a lot of my team the expectations had more to do with off the field than they did with on the field. Because I brought in a lot of athletes that may not have had college ambitions our focus has been on being a scholar first and athlete second. That includes being a good citizen and being a good leader as well. I knew the girls I recruited were very athletic and I was not as worried about the football part of it, but getting everyone on the same page and into the same system was a challenge. It has been the off the field focus for us, and I have been so impressed on how far they have come as scholar athletes.
