THE ATLANTA FALCONS NAMED SHAW HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL COACH COACH OF THE WEEK

Picture courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons

Alicia Barton of Shaw High School in Columbus, Ga., has been named the Atlanta Falcons High School Coach of the Week. Coach Barton is both the first Girls Flag Football Head Coach and the first female head coach to earn the honor since the program started in 2009.

Coach Barton led her team to a 7-3 record in 2019 and a runner-up finish in Muscogee County during the school’s inaugural season last year. After leading flag football clinics to grow the game this summer, Barton’s Raiders are off to another impressive start in 2020.

 As part of the Coach of the Week program, the NFL and Atlanta Falcons recognize head high school varsity football coaches across the state of Georgia for their hard work and dedication to making a difference in student-athletes lives on and off the field.

 

Two years ago, the Atlanta Falcons and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation agreed to partner with Gwinnett County Schools to fund the first-ever girls’ high school flag football league in Georgia. In December of 2019, the Georgia High School Association announced that flag football is now a sport that high schools can choose to offer to girls, making Georgia the fourth state in the country to officially sanction the sport.