Savannah council to recognize PAL girls flag football champions

A 21-9 season and a 12-6 title-game win earned Savannah PAL girls flag football more than a trophy. The City of Savannah’s July 9 council agenda included an official recognition for the 2026 champions at City Hall council chambers, 2 East Bay Street, tying the program’s on-field results to civic approval.

Team Purple Rain, coached by Udon Carter, finished 9-1, won both the regular-season championship and the tournament championship, and closed the bracket with a 12-6 victory over PAL Team Maroon Comeback. Maroon Comeback was coached by Shawn Milton, Alexandria Brooks and Yocaira Melton, while PAL Team Silver Bullet, coached by Mathew White, took third place in the tournament.

Purple Rain’s championship roster was loaded with names that now sit in the city’s official record: Harmony Fredrick, Asani Lawson, Lar’shae Sanders, Brielle Keith, Chirs’Shona Smith, Teyana Smith, Teairra Smith, Dekota Randall, Nikori Morris, Gabrielle Alson, Jillian Atkins, Zaria Wilson, Za’Riah Hayes, Diane Miller, Ro’Zari Moss and Jamine Lawton. That is the kind of detail council resolutions usually reserve for long-standing achievements, not a young youth-sports program.

The recognition mattered because Savannah’s girls flag football push only started in spring 2025. The city opened its inaugural regular season to girls in third through sixth grade, set practices to begin the week of May 27, and staged a free skills clinic on April 5. Former Atlanta Falcons players Robert Moore, Bobby Butler and Buddy Curry worked a clinic on May 3, giving the city a quick burst of credibility as it tried to turn the sport into something more permanent.

PAL fits that larger picture. The Savannah Police Department describes the Police Athletic/Activities League as a nationally recognized program that uses sports, homework help and mentoring to build character and strengthen police-community relations. That mission is no longer abstract in Savannah: it now has a city-recognized flag football champion attached to it, along with a clear paper trail of wins, coaches and players.

Georgia already has a state girls flag football championship through the GHSA, and the NFL has highlighted the sport’s rapid growth through its NFL Flag 50 campaign. Savannah’s recognition places the PAL program inside that broader rise, but it also does something more immediate. It gives the city a public stamp on a team that won, a program that is growing, and a case for more field access, more support and a bigger place in Savannah’s youth-sports plan.