By Gena Jones
Photos Courtesy of Chicago Bears
Three of Chicago Public League’s (CPL) senior girls flag football stars made a trip to the Chicago Bears headquarters at Halas Hall last week to receive the Girls Flag Changemaker Scholarship award for their outstanding work as student-athletes and community leaders. Jones College Prep’s Tory Smith, Da’Kyla Hall of Simeon Academy and Taft High School’s Maylin Nunez each gave speeches detailing the impacts of flag football on their lives and the barriers they hope to cross as one of the first generations to play at the collegiate level.
CPL Director of Sports Administration, Juliana Zavala, has worked closely with Gustavo Silva, Manager of Youth Football and Community Programs at the Chicago Bears, for the last four years to establish girls flag as a high school sport in Illinois. Now, over 70 teams participate in the city’s league alone and more than 120+ teams compete throughout the state, a direct result of the pair’s efforts to increase opportunities for young female athletes.
In 2023, Zavala was announced as the recipient of the Chicago Bears Inspire Change Changemaker Award for her work in flag football. Without hesitation, she pledged the award funds toward a scholarship that would provide $5,000 for girls flag athletes looking to play in college.
Months ago, coaches across the city nominated players they thought deserved consideration for the scholarship. On February 18, the standout recipients were invited to celebrate their awards during a private dinner ceremony at Halas Hall along with their coaches, families, friends and teammates.
“Honestly, in a million years, I never thought that I would be here, speaking in front of everyone and giving out this Changemaker Award,” Zavala said in her speech. “All of this is because of an idea, and this idea keeps growing.”
A night full of proud smiles, heartfelt speeches and teary-eyed coaches, the event honored the hard work of each athlete and the support systems around them.
“It’s so special,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without them.”
Last November, Smith became the first athlete to ever be named Chicago Bears IHSA Player of the Year for her performance during the Eagles’ 2024 season. More than just a talented receiver, Smith is a dedicated mentor who plans to run a flag football clinic in the spring and be a counselor for other young athletes in the summer. Her teammates at Jones College Prep were proud to watch their captain go on stage to accept the title of Changemaker.
“Players, when they’re really good, they can sometimes get very full of themselves, but I feel like Tory was the opposite of that,” said Jones teammate, Caroline Friesen. “She cultivated a really good team spirit among all the girls. She made it a place where we all could make a community.”
Over and over, the Jones Eagles used two words to describe theri senior receiver: role model.
“Tory has been a big help,” said Jones junior, Nia Pullie. “I had no clue how to play [flag football]. Every time I came to her and asked her how to help me, she would never be frustrated. She always came to practice with a smile on her face. She’s the happiest person you’ve ever seen. Every single time she plays, she smiles and she’s laughing and having a good time. She’s a real positive part of the team.”
Smith, a multi-sport athlete, said choosing to play flag football was, “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
“I hope I can just keep teaching it to other girls in younger generations,” Smith continued. “When I go to college, I hope I can just keep sharing the message of the sport. It’s just really empowering.”
Prior to becoming a defensive powerhouse for Simeon, Da’Kyla Hall had never played a sport in her life. After being recruited by her coach and counselor Erin Pruitt in 2022, Hall adapted to her roles on the field and became a leader for the Wolverines. She announced during her speech that she would be continuing her athletic career and studying Exercise Science at the University of Saint Francis in Indiana.
“The Simeon team, that’s my foundation. That’s where I took off at,” Hall said. “Joining the team and being around so many girls and getting to go to so many places with so many different personalities — that was the best part.”
Morgan Ellis, linebacker for the Wolverines, believes two things make Hall special on and off the field.
“Her spirit and her dedication,” Ellis said. “Flag Football just shows who she is in real life: a strong person that’s just ready to take anything headfirst.”
Hall and her coach have a close bond. The two met first as counselor and counselee, became friends and are now an unstoppable coach-player duo. Maturity was always Hall’s key characteristic, and with time Pruitt helped her use that natural trait to step into a leadership role as a student athlete. The Simeon coach says she couldn’t help but get emotional watching her senior defensive-back speak on stage.
“She’s a natural leader. She has a lot of passion,” Pruitt said. “I didn’t try to change her. In certain settings, people have tried to tone her down. I didn’t do that. I tried to just let her be who she is.”
At Simeon, Hall was number nine: a force to be reckoned with on the other side of the football.
After Tuesday’s ceremony, she’ll be recognized as a certified Changemaker.
Maylin Nunez is known among the city’s flag community as an ‘OG’ of the sport. Taft’s quarterback from its very first season of flag football to its most recent, Nunez has been at the center of their progress as a program. For four years, Nunez has been elevating the Taft Eagles with her quiet leadership, welcoming nature and confident playmaking.
“Her work ethic, her coachability, her dedication — she’s there every single day,” Taft Coach Christine Meduncyia said. “She’s quiet and she’s shy, yet she’s fierce on the field. She has such confidence that the girls know that they can rely on her. They know who she is and they know they’ve got a changemaker.”
Nunez has never missed a practice in her high-school career. She started all four years for the Eagles, leads the league in passing yards and has more than earned her unofficial title as a flag football ‘OG’. Despite her range of achievement on the field, Nunez still remains humble to the core.
“When he said my name, I was shocked,” Nunez said, recalling the moment she learned of her award win. “I never imagined that I could get a scholarship through flag football, which is insane.”
Her ability to connect with others makes her an apt leader for the Eagles. Ava Balmaseda, who joined Taft’s flag team during her senior year, thinks of Nunez as a friend beyond the field, too.
“She’s the person you seek to find in any teammate and any type of friend,” Balmaseda said. “She’s there for you through anything.”
Flag football, in general, has grown from a small competition of just a few teams in Illinois debuting in 2021, to now preparing for the first ever collegiate-level matchup in state history. Rockford University and Benedictine University will compete in a historic girls flag football event at the Walter Payton Center at the Chicago Bears’ Lake Forest, Illinois headquarters on March 8.
CPL athletes like Smith, Hall and Nunez are at the forefront of this emerging class of flag football athletes who, with grit, sportsmanship and pure talent, will set the stage for future young female athletes for years to come. Their scholarship award is a testament to each girl’s hard work and achievement in the quickly evolving sport of girls flag football.
