Out of skill, support, and opportunity, senior Ella Doran is the first WA Flag Football player to commit to play at the collegiate level. After joining the newly formed team her junior year, Doran quickly found her place with the sport and searched for a college to commit to before landing on Roxbury Community College.
According to Doran, she never expected she was going to play flag football in college, but after giving the sport a try she hasn’t looked back since.
“I definitely didn’t think I was ever gonna play flag football in college,” Doran said. “But once you try the sport, you never know if you’re gonna love it, and luckily I ended up loving it.”
Despite being new to the sport, Doran was able to use her knowledge of track and soccer to become a valuable player and team member. Due to her time on the track team, Doran started as a fast runner, quick on the chase of her opponent, and she was also able to use her experience playing soccer to anticipate what direction a player was planning on moving by watching their hips, making her especially effective in the defensive position.
“[Doran] started out as a center, and we gave her a try at linebacker one time and she fell in love,” WA Flag Football coach Connor McLaughlin said. “She’s a huge read and react type of player, aggressive on the field and fast to pull flags. She ended up being our defensive player of the year. She was one of the top players on the team, so she’s been doing great.”
While Doran spent most of her high school career in other sports, she prefers the team dynamic and opportunity that WA Flag Football offers.
“I like the team because it’s more like a family,” Doran said. “[Flag Football is] also a new sport [at WA], and for younger athletes you can really be a role model. It’s also good because it’s a physical sport and it’s just fun to play.”
According to Doran, her commitment was aided by the support of McLaughlin, but she also recognizes how important the support of her parents was to the process as well.
“My parents [said], ‘yeah, we love this idea,'” Doran said. “They also helped me go [tour] the colleges and they [said], ‘whatever you want to do, that’s you, and [we’re] gonna help you no matter what'”
After Doran toured Roxbury Community College in January of 2026, she fell in love with the affordability and flexible scheduling system that the school has to offer.
“I like that I can live at home, but also play the sport [on campus],” Doran said. “It’s like a normal college sport, but it’s free and also less time consuming. For some sports you’re practicing every day, but Roxbury makes sure that your [class] schedule matches your practice schedule.”
Roxbury Community College’s Women’s Flag Football team is launching its first season in the spring of 2026, making Doran not only the first WA athlete to commit for flag football, but one of the first flag football players to commit to Roxbury Community College.
According to Mclaughlin, this commitment is a significant achievement for Doran and an example for other athletes that might be considering playing the growing sport of flag football in college.
“I think someone committing to go play [flag football] in college is huge for other girls in the area,” McLaughlin said. “[It is helpful for] young kids to realize it’s something they’ll be able to do in the future.”
