Kankakee Times

State Representative Jackie Haas praised the achievements of the Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School Flag Football team. "I am so excited to see girls flag football programs grow statewide after the introduction of this new sport in Illinois!" she said.

"Congratulations to the Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School Girls Flag Football Team for placing 4th in the 2024 inaugural IHSA Girls Flag Football State Championship," said Haas, according to Facebook. "This is such a great accomplishment. I am so excited to see girls flag football programs grow statewide after the introduction of this new sport in Illinois!"

According to a Facebook post by Haas, she shared a link to a Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School (BBCHS) Athletics post that highlighted the team's progress to the final four in the 2024-2025 flag football season. The post, dated October 18, said: "BBCHS Girls Flag Football has an incredible comeback tonight to win 22-20 and advance to tomorrow's games. BBCHS will play at 11 AM with a second game either at 2 PM or 4 PM. Last day of the season - here we go! Boiler up!"

Screenshot of State Rep. Jackie Haas' Oct. 23 Facebook post | State Representative Jackie Haas' Facebook page

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) webpage announced that on October 16, eight teams qualified for further rounds, including Bradley-Bourbonnais, Evanston, Fremd, Guilford, Lane Tech, Perspectives Leadership Academy, Whitney Young, and Willowbrook. Each game was streamed live, with semifinals and championship matches broadcasted on WCIU.

The IHSA press release emphasized the growth of girls' flag football in Illinois. Craig Anderson, executive director of IHSA, said in a Sports Illustrated article: "The addition of girls flag football furthers the IHSA mission of creating participation opportunities for high school students in Illinois. The sport has experienced significant growth in a short amount of time, and our member schools are excited to see it become an IHSA sport. The Chicago Public Schools Athletic Administration and the Chicago Bears both deserve significant praise for their grassroots efforts in shepherding and supporting the growth of girls flag football in Illinois."

Haas was elected to represent Illinois’ 79th House District in December 2020. According to her biography from the Illinois General Assembly, she is CEO of the Helen Wheeler Center for Community Health and previously worked as a social worker at Riverside Medical Center. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Valparaiso University and a Master of Social Work from the University of Illinois-Chicago.