LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The popularity of flag football has skyrocketed in recent years across America, for both boys and girls.
Las Vegas has become a national hot spot for the future Olympic sport, helping Nevada rank second among U.S. states in girl's flag football participation.
Nevada was one of the first states to make girl's flag football a sanctioned high school sport. The Las Vegas Raiders have since helped grow the game with clinics and now even the team's own middle school league.
As for examples of local trailblazers in the sport, look no further than Coronado High grad Maci Joncich and Bonanza High grad Brianna Hernandez-Silva:
The Las Vegas Valley natives were recently selected to the final roster of the U.S. Women's National Flag Team. It's the second time being selected for both Joncich and Hernandez-Silva.
The two join a 12-athlete roster that will compete against countries from around the globe in August at the world championships in Chengdu, China, and in September at the continental championships in Panama City, Panama.
The Team USA women will aim for their fourth straight world title after beating Mexico in the gold medal matchup 31-18 in last summer's world championships in Finland.
“Wearing USA across your chest, there's nothing like it, so it feels great," Joncich told Channel 13's Nick Walters. "We've been able to develop a lot of friendships, learned a lot about each other and about the game itself.”
“All these experiences, now getting to see that like the girls back home get those opportunities, I'm like, this is awesome," Hernandez-Silva told Walters. "We're two girls representing it...I definitely think we share a little bit of a bond because we're from Vegas.”
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Coronado senior youngest to ever make U.S. Women's Flag Football National Team
After winning a state championship at Coronado, Joncich became the youngest player to ever be selected to the U.S. Women's National Flag Football Team at 17. She went on to score two touchdowns in the gold medal win against Mexico.
Now 18, Joncich is a rising sophomore at the University of Florida and is a utility player and secondary quarterback for Team USA.
“The world championships in Finland, it was literally the time of my life," Joncich said. "Just having the opportunity to go through that again this year is just so incredible. This year we have two big tournaments, pretty much back to back…The coaches have told me they want me to step into more of like a little bit of a leadership role this year.”
A former college flag player in Kansas, Hernandez-Silva made the squad in 2023 but failed to make the final cut in 2024 after she graduated.
Now living in Austin, Texas, Hernandez-Silva worked to make the final roster again and is ready to contribute as a middle linebacker and defensive back.
“I would say honestly just the opportunity," Hernandez-Silva said when asked why she's excited to compete internationally again. "That's kind of what like drove me this last year to kind of grind so hard to get back to where I was. I knew I had, in a sense, fallen short just a little bit, and so I took all the feedback I could and I applied it...to be back and to know that everything I set my mind to paid off in the end."
"Wearing USA across your chest, there's nothing like it." 🏈🇺🇸
— Nick Walters (@nickwalt) June 4, 2025
Two Las Vegas Valley natives make the 12-athlete roster for the U.S. Women's Flag Football National Team looking to defend its gold medals in China and Panama in August and September. @KTNV pic.twitter.com/EUA7FVGFHA
While there's an age gap between them, the two up-and-coming flag football stars share a unique friendship thanks to their Vegas roots.
“I love Maci," Hernandez-Silva said. "I adore her. She is so sweet, she's so awesome, she's so athletic…She actually got onto my club team, and we played a tournament in October together. And I just chatted with her the whole time. Being from Vegas, like that kind of sparked the conversation.”
Before the flag football industry exploded into what it is today, where many girls are at tryouts for schools' teams, Joncich and Hernandez-Silva gravitated toward flag football when the talent pool was smaller.
“When I joined the 15U national team back in 2021, I remember everybody that was at tryouts was pretty much everybody that played flag," Joncich said. "It was a tight little group. Now I don't know half the people that play the game…This wasn't even a college sport just a few years ago. So, just to see that explosion has been really cool to see firsthand.”
Joncich and Hernandez-Silva will train with the rest of their team to prepare for the chase for more gold medals later this summer.
The world championships in China go from August 14 to 17, and the continental championships in Panama are from September 12 to 14.
