Nataliyah Stallings had never played a team sport before her friends convinced her to play flag football.
Ka'morrah Strong was a one-sport student-athlete who decided to give flag a chance after missing volleyball tryouts.
Mya Page had been playing flag football in a boys league since she was five years old.
Fast forward a few years, turn on ESPN and watch as that same group of best friends compete on a national stage as part of the 2025 Pro Bowl Games in Orlando. The Guilford High School seniors represented the Bears in an NFC versus AFC matchup during the inaugural NFL Flag High School Girls Showcase over the weekend.
The trio of student-athletes turned inseparable teammates made a timely national debut just days before National Women and Girls in Sports Day on Wednesday. In a competition featuring 30 of the best flag players in the nation, Stallings, Page and Strong were the only representatives chosen from Illinois. Each showcase attendee was deemed a standout senior player from USA Today Sports' Super 25 flag football team rankings and selected by the NFL for a weekend of Florida fun and football.

Tasked with showcasing the talent of girls flag players statewide, the group could have easily buckled under pressure. But years of hard work, dedication to improvement and support from their communities bolstered these young women to do what they do best and do it together.
Girls flag football has seen exponential growth in Illinois throughout the last four years, and the Bears have been there every step of the way. By hosting coaches clinics, player jamborees and the state's first ever girls flag championship, the Bears have made a clear commitment to expanding the exposure of young women to sports and the opportunities that being a student-athlete can provide.
In just a few years time, girls flag football has become an official sport with over 150 schools in the state and became an Illinois High School Association sanctioned sport that premiered this fall. Players like Stallings, Strong and Page are living testimonies to the positive impact that investing in women's sports can have.
"It really just started off with me not understanding anything about the sport, then going on the field and using my natural ability to apply myself," Stallings said. "The endless support that I've received just from this opportunity here — I'm very pleased, I'm very appreciative."
"It took a long time for me to let it sink in," Strong said of her reaction to the announcement she would be going to Orlando.
She recalled the confidence that opportunities to play at Halas Hall early in her career gave her.
"When I first stepped into the Bears facility, it really made me realize a lot of things like: this is real," Strong added. "I'm one of the first generations to play flag football. Not many people are going to get this opportunity."

When asked which women they look up to most in their athletic journeys, each girl shared the same answer: mom.
Stallings' mother's experience as a multi-sport athlete — specifically in track & field — encouraged her to be successful in any sport she played.
"She's always held herself to a higher standard," Stallings said. "She gave everything her all, she's always been determined. She's definitely an inspiring woman."
For Strong, her instinct to carry herself with confidence all comes from the guidance of her mother, who taught her that "if I really want something, I have to really fight for it."
Page leans on her mom to be a support system and source of motivation when she feels she's not performing at her preferred level.
"My mom, that's my homegirl! We tight! She always support me in everything I do," Page said with a big smile. "Whenever I fall down and I feel like I'm at my lowest or I don't have anybody to talk to, I always go to her. She always picks me right up."
Family hasn't been the girls' only source of support, though. These three Vikings depend on each other as both teammates and friends. Though each member of the trio is a dominant force on the field in her own right, these girls are united more by a genuine love for the game than they are by their high-achieving stats as players.
Despite having 24 touchdowns between them, the three Guildford athletes consider two things more important than anything else: having fun and making friends along the way.
"These amazing young women, the team that I came from," Stallings said, "I would not have started flag if they all didn't push me… The dynamic of us already being friends really, really helped me succeed in our season."
"When I met these two – which, I met her on the field," Page said, pointing at a grinning Ka'mmorah. "She was shy. One thing about shy people, I crack them and I make them my friend. [Nataliyah] as well!"
Friendship was the crucial base upon which the Vikings' success was built. They learned from each other as athletes, pushed each other to make new connections on the team and blossomed as friends off the field.
"They're the best," Page said of her two teammates. "It's exciting to be going down there with these two, definitely."
Before landing in Orlando, a mixture of nerves, curiosity and excitement occupied the trio's minds. They'd be playing against other phenomenal athletes in front of thousands of people — not to mention all the ESPN cameras that would be following their every move on the field.
"When I first touch the field, my nerves get really bad," Strong said. "I try to shake them off with being positive, being goofy, trying to pump myself up. Once that quarterback's like: 'Ready, set, hut,' that's when I get into the zone."

Page, however, has found a slightly different approach to getting rid of pregame jitters this season.
"Me, I just be a little bit nervous, then I come out, do that shake and I get serious, straight business," Page said, eliciting a laugh from her teammates. "I start talking to myself and I'm like: 'Okay, don't be no punk, don't be no punk, this what you do!"
"I would be scared of you!" Stallings joked.
Each player brought something to the field that their AFC opponents needed to account for. Page and Strong received First- and Second-Team All-State Honors from the Bears for their performance last year. Stallings alone raked in 481 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Vikings. Their consistently strong performances as a team led them to an undefeated regular season, but adjusting to the rhythm of their new Pro Bowl NFC squad proved more difficult than they anticipated.

Despite having to quickly establish new ways to communicate on the field, they left Sunday afternoon with a 28-0 shutout victory. Page attributed her "lucky" touchdown in the second half to the working chemistry she was able to form with the quarterback.
"I was really focused on us winning and us having fun," Page said. "My phone was blowing up like crazy! People were sending me clips and stuff of me playing."
"When we finished, me and Mya started talking and we were like 'Woah, all these people were here?'" Stallings said.
"I'm very grateful and appreciative that I got this opportunity," Strong said. "I wish we could play longer, but I was still grateful to be able to touch the field again."
Moving forward, both Stallings and Strong say they'd be interested in playing flag or another sport at the collegiate level and are appreciative of the exposure they've received during high school.

Page, too, was clear on her next step.
"I want to be on the USA Team, hopefully," she said. "That's the goal. That's what I want to do."
With thousands of fans cheering from the stands and thousands more watching from home, this trio of unstoppable trailblazers are aware of the influence they can have on other young women who've now seen them play on the big screen.
"I think that when younger girls look, especially with us being of color, they can see a mentor," Stallings said of their potential impact. "They see a role model, they see young girls being able to do the things that they want to do."