Mars school district has approved a club girls flag football team that will start competing this spring.

The burgeoning interest in girls flag football caught the attention of Johnathan Emhardt. He wondered just how popular the idea would be in the Mars Area School District.

Beginning in late October, Emhardt, a science teacher at the high school, gauged the level of interest. It was good enough to present to the school board earlier this month, and the formation of a team was approved Dec. 4.

The Planets will hold their first practices and games in the spring.

“I took down the names of girls who said they were interested in playing,” Emhardt said. “We needed a minimum of 10 for the board to consider it and ended up getting 30. I was pretty excited with that number. I didn’t pester the girls. The news kind of spread through the school through word of mouth, and they came to me to sign up.

“More and more schools in the area were forming teams, and I wanted to start one at Mars.”

Girls flag football in this region is currently under the direction of the Pittsburgh Steelers Flag Football Program. The team will be added at Mars with a club-sport designation and will have the opportunity to elevate to full-fledged sponsorship by the district in two years.

Two other Butler County schools, Seneca Valley and North Catholic, currently field teams.

The PIAA in September voted to add high school girls flag football to its index of sanctioned sports beginning in 2026.

“There’s talk that there will be a meeting in February for all new teams in our region,” Emhardt said. “That would be very helpful to get used to the rules of the game and other things.”

Emhardt will serve as head coach and plans to have a number of assistant coaches, including former varsity football assistant Scott Pfeiffer. The former said the Planets could also field a junior varsity team depending on the number of girls who show up in March. Either way, the sport now has a foothold at Mars with the opportunity to grow.

“I believe having new avenues for girls is important,” Emhardt said. “I’m excited to bring this to our community.”