From the moment she steps foot onto a flag football field, Evie Maas plays with a level of skill and intention that sets her apart. She competes at an incredibly high level and has remained focused on growing her game as the world of flag football continues to rise in popularity.
Her drive and determination has carried her far beyond Xavier’s flag football field, and past any in state competition. As of March 2026, Maas has been recruited and selected to play for the Team USA 15U National Team, turning her years of hard work into a huge opportunity.
“The program invites 40 girls from around the country to try out for the national team, and of those 40, 18 are selected. Then of those 18, 12 are chosen to be full-time team members and the other six become alternates,” said flag football head coach Matt Reum.
Maas has been selected as one of the 18 girls, and will return to try out to be one of the 12 on April 16. She will find out if she has made the permanent team five days later, and if she is selected she will compete against other flag football teams from around the world.
“She is the first one from Xavier flag football to be selected for a team of that caliber, and she’s only a freshman,” said assistant coach Susan Contreras.
Despite her young age, Maas has been skillfully competing for years. “She loves the game and grew up playing it,” said Reum. Her love for flag football is what drives her to perform at this level, but she has had to sacrifice a lot of time to do so.
Between playing for a club team, Xavier’s team and now on a national flag football team, Maas maintains a busy schedule. “Every day I go to the gym and I have club practice two to three times a week. I also have practice for school at Xavier every morning,” Maas said.
The national team requires her to fly out to the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in California to train for five days once a month as well.
Maas has had to learn to manage her busy schedule in order to balance school, football and her second sport, basketball. She played basketball for Xavier this year in addition to playing football.
“I stay up late a lot to do homework and I try to do homework at lunch, too,” said Maas. “It was definitely harder to manage at the beginning of the year when I was first figuring everything out.”
Maas explained that although her schedule is stressful, it’s given her the opportunity to play on teams like the Team USA 15U Girls National Team, which is very exciting. She handles the stress and pressure well and wants to continue her flag football career far beyond high school.
She’s looking forward to flag football becoming a bigger D1 sport and is waiting for the creation of a women’s flag football league.
“Flag football is the fastest growing sport in the country right now,” said Reum, pointing to a promising future in the sport for Maas.
This accomplishment not only highlights Maas’s talent, but also marks Xavier flag football on a national level. During her first year of high school she has set a new standard for future and current players to look up to.
“This is an amazing thing for her, for our school and for girls flag football in general,” said Contreras.
