The girls’ flag football team has made quite the reputation for themselves. Robinson has won four state championships in a row, and the popular brand Nike has consequently made the decision to sponsor the team. This is a big deal, as Alonso is the only other flag football team to ever have a sponsorship with the brand.

Robinson’s flag football team has been highly successful since they started in 2006, with the varsity team being named No.1 in the state of Florida for four consecutive years, and the junior varsity team being undefeated since 2011; they have won 82 games in a row. Typically, players starting off on the junior varsity team have never played flag football at that level before, but they still manage to push through every year and bring home victory after victory.

Since Robinson’s team is such a powerful force, Nike has decided to sponsor the team as part of their plan to popularize flag football as a sport across the nation. Hillsborough County is home to two prominent teams, Alonso and Robinson, making it a key area for flag football.

“Nike called us about two months ago and said that they wanted flag football to be a high school sport in all 50 states, and eventually be a college sport,” Joshua Saunders, the head coach of Robinson’s flag team said.  “They said that there would be no other teams than Alonso and us that they would want to represent them when they tried to make this push.”

Nike has offered to supply gear such as jerseys, sports bras, headbands, gloves and cleats to the team. Recently, Coach Saunders had the opportunity to visit the Nike World Headquarters in Portland, Oregon to talk to the uniform designer. Both varsity and junior varsity, as well as the coaches, are going to be outfitted by the brand.

“If you can wear it on the sidelines they wanted it to say Nike, and they want us wearing their stuff,” Saunders said.