By Lyra Stoyas and Catherine Pope, Staff Writers
On November 8th, 2025 Riverside Poly’s flag football team won the CIF Division 4 Championship. Are they en route to go even farther this season?
Although Poly’s flag football team was formed in August of 2023 and this is only their third season, the team has already had major success. Last season, the team won their division’s CIF finals with a score of 27-18.
This season the team looks like it’s trying to do the same. The team has already played twelve games, and they’ve won six of those. Even with twelve games already completed, they are only halfway through their season and have many more games to go before CIF to prove just how good they are.
Their ultimate goal this season is to win state at CIF. One of the ways they prepare for the games and CIF is motivating one another.
If someone makes a mistake during a game, the players are always able to give that teammate motivation for the next game because they have all made the same mistake before. In fact, it is one of the most important parts of the team. It helps the players bond and make connections with each other to improve their playing.
Another way the players stay motivated is their pre-game rituals. Before most of their games, the players will spend time having fun so they do not end up stressed about the game and are calm before it starts. One of the ways they have fun is by filming videos and dancing together. Before a game, you can find at least two of the players dancing together and laughing.
Additionally, the players love to play music and sing along as a group. Whether they are in the locker room, on the bus, or on the field, they are listening to music and laughing as they do karaoke along with it.
All of these activities, paired with their rigorous practice, is what helps the team perform so well.
The team constantly practices, even before games. Their amount of practice helps them know what to do in any situation during a game. They have plans for any kind of play that can come up.
Even if the team has a bad game, they get back up and keep up their motivation to do better the next game. They never let a loss slow them down and they come back stronger than before.
The determination of the flag football team is what will bring them to their next CIF victory and will take them farther than they have gone before. Good luck to the Poly flag football team this season!