photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence running back La'Keyshia Woods runs through tackles in the flag football triangular at Free State on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Lawrence.

Lawrence High School named Silas Dulan its first flag football coach, as the program enters its first year of varsity competition.

Dulan isn’t new to girls flag football. With Lawrence Youth Football, Dulan was the head coach of the program’s inaugural middle school girls team last year and went undefeated.

“Our foundation will be academic excellence, high-level competition, life lessons through football and opportunities to play at the college level and beyond,” Dulan said in a press release. “We’re building a program our school and city will be proud of — and one people will want to be part of.”

Lawrence competed last year as a part of the Kansas City Chiefs’ pilot program that provided funding for the sport to participating schools. Lawrence, along with Free State, Baldwin and 26 other schools, were part of the program.

Lawrence Athletic Director Nick Wood called Dulan “a tremendous leader with a clear and concise vision of success” in a press release and cited his experience with the sport and recommendations.

“We are thrilled to have coach Dulan lead our girls flag football program,” Wood stated in the release. “He comes to us with a lot of experience coaching flag football, so we feel very confident that our girls will be prepared from an X’s and O’s standpoint.”

Flag football became a sanctioned sport in April after the Kansas State High School Activities Association approved it in a near-unanimous vote. This fall will be the first time that teams can compete for state championships under the official purview of KSHSAA. That means state records, championships and banners like all other sports.

The Lions had very little time to prepare for the season a year ago. Most players hadn’t played the sport before and were notified of the opportunity just weeks before the school year started. While the program is still on a tight turnaround with a new head coach, the Lions come back with a roster that now has experience in the sport and with each other.

“Lawrence is a football town, and LHS has a rich tradition of winning,” Dulan said in the release. “Our girls will build on that history while writing their own. I believe in winning, and I believe just as strongly in doing it the right way.”

Lawrence will start its season on Sept. 2 by hosting Olathe Northwest at 7:30 p.m. and will wrap up on Oct. 5 with a home game against Shawnee Mission South. The first KSHSAA state flag football tournament will take place on Oct. 17 in Wichita.