Last fall, Castilleja’s Varsity Flag Football team tied for second in the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) with a 7-4 win-loss record. Led by Head Coach Matt Callahan and Assistant Coach James Hall, alongside co-captains Karlie Gabriel ’26, Nola Doorley ’26, Violet Yick ’26 and Layla Gallon ’26, the team advanced to the CCS Division III semifinals in only their second year as a team.
Beyond competitive play, the Casti flag players were especially close as a team. “That’s really special because not a lot of opposing teams that we see have a really special bond with each other, which really shows on the field,” Gabriel said.
Team bonds grew through difficult wins. Gabriel’s favorite memory, for instance, was their first rain game. It was “really, really fun,” Gabriel said. “It was challenging, but we won.”
The team retreat in Napa was also a core memory for all players. “We stayed at a hotel together, and we had a lot of fun doing team bonding activities,” Gallon said. “It was literally a vacation from life, and we just got to spend it with our girls.”
These experiences have created a close-knit and supportive team culture. “[We have formed] a community that’s very supportive within our team, celebrating all the little wins, like when someone has a great play [or] catches an interception,” Doorley said. “Having positive consistency throughout [the season] has really helped us overcome [challenges].”
Despite various physical and mental hurdles, the flag team successfully achieved their goal of qualifying for CCS.
Physically, injuries had been a consistent hindering factor. Because multiple players experienced elbow, foot and ankle injuries, the number of players on the field was often inconsistent. “Sometimes, we didn’t have enough people to practice,” Gallon said.
Mentally, Casti’s flag team worked hard to develop the confidence needed to overcome difficult opponents. “In the middle of the season, we started facing harder and harder teams, and it’s been really challenging to fight through difficult games,” Callahan, who is also the faculty advisor for Counterpoint, said.
However, the team pushed to overcome this adversity by strengthening their mindset and maintaining confidence. Callahan said that the coaches especially focused on helping players “understand how to have confidence [and] how to bounce back if they fail.”
By the end of the season, the flag team’s improvement was evident from many big wins. “We’ve definitely improved a lot as a team overall, so that’s gratifying in itself,” Gallon said.
After a successful senior night against Notre Dame Belmont, where the team dominated 57-8, they finished off their season reaching CCS semifinals with bonds that will last beyond the season.
