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It was at a tournament through the non-profit he helped found called Little City, Big Dreams in Williamsport that Ed Harer noticed girls playing competitive flag football. It caught his eye as a coach himself who got into flag football.
Harer always wanted to give coaching a shot and when he was told there would be a flag football program at St. John Neumann by another coach, Harer asked him to put in a word for him.
Next thing Harer knew, he got a call from Neumann and now is coaching the program’s flag football team.
“I always said if I had a chance to coach a girls sport, I would jump to it,” Harer said. “I (told other coach) if you can put a word in for me, I would love that and next thing I know I’m getting a call from Neumann saying ‘hey, we’d like to bring you in for an interview for the position.’ So I was really excited.”
Now Harer gets to lead an inaugural program not just at St. John Neumann, but the first flag football program in the central Pennsylvania area.
“There’s a lot of pride in it. I want to make sure it’s done right so they know how it’s done. Also, I’m super nervous because I have to make sure I have everything in line, all my ducks in a row, because if not, it goes bad, people will talk. So, we all know how that is,” Harer said with a laugh. “I’m super excited and I feel like once we see that, I have a good feeling that all the schools in the area are going to jump on the board.”
The first season of flag football for St. John Neumann won’t get underway until the spring, but the interest is already building at the school. So far, seven girls signed up and Neumann hopes more come out as time goes on.
“I do (think more will come out). I think of course out of the seven girls who signed up already, they’re going to talk to their friends and get word of mouth,” Harer said. “They’re going to hear that it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s a lot of fun. Plus, we’re going to be winning, so people want to be a part of that.”
“Absolutely, the girls are eager to be the first varsity team in the district and bring a whole new varsity sport to the region” St. John Neumann graduate and athletic director Devin Bierly said.
Bierly noted that when he first pitched the sport, numerous girls were excited from the get go.
“We already have a few girls with experience and we’ll obviously have some newcomers too, but they’re very excited to get started.”
A handful of girls already play in the Heartland League, a local girls flag football club team. Those players asked the school about the possibility of starting a girls varsity flag football team.
“Once we knew we had the interest, and a coach, we did some research and saw how fast of a growing sport it is and it was a no-brainer,” Bierly said. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer our girls this new opportunity.”
As noted, Harer is a co-founder of Little City, Big Dreams, a non-profit in Williamsport that was founded with Harer, his wife and another member.
“We have four youth flag football teams, just boys. We only have boys teams right now,” Harer said. “We’re just trying to make sure that kids are busy and don’t get into any trouble and showing them things they may not ever see.”
The season is months away from getting started, but the players who did already sign up and Harer are excited about what’s coming to Neumann and the anticipation of that first snap.
“I haven’t met any of them yet, we haven’t had try outs or anything, but my expectations are to want them to be coachable and to just buy in what we’re going to teach them and show them. Leave the attitudes at the door,” Harer said. “I’m a tough coach. I’m going to respect you, I don’t care if you’re female or male, I’m going to coach you the same way. It doesn’t matter. I’m trying to push you to that limit and put it a step further to be the best at it.
“I just want them to be committed and them to be committed to make sure they’re ready to gout there to play freely and not have to worry about nothing,” Harer said.
Harer is a competitive guy and wants his team to be competitive as well when the season begins in the spring. And he already has a playbook in the works for when practices eventually begin and a roster is set.
“I’m super excited. I’m super competitive, so I just want to be the best, my team to be the best,” Harer said. “I’m already starting to put together the playbook and offseason plans I want to do with the young ladies. So just get them ready for the season because last I heard, the team who won championship last year was out of Harrisburg, so I just want to make sure we’re better than them.”