PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Wellington alum has dominated girls' flag football in South Florida for the past four years and capped off her high school career with a shout-out from ESPN and several major outlets for her arm and skills.
WATCH BELOW: 'He saw that I had an arm, and he was like, 'You're my girl,'" Ava Hanson says
The name Ava Hanson rings bells in the flag football world. In her senior season at Wellington High School, she threw for 4,000 yards and 62 touchdowns.
Numbers that compare to NFL greats like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
As a kid, Hanson shined bright on the diamond.
"I had been playing softball my whole life," said Hanson.
While softball was her first sport, she quit, and in typical mom fashion, it was her mother who made a life-changing move — enrolling her daughter in flag football.
High School
Athlete draws attention after flag football highlights go viral
"My mom signed me up randomly for a rec league, and my rec coach was also my high school coach. He saw that I had an arm, and he was like, 'You're my girl,'" said Hanson.
Her coach was right; she graduated from Wellington High School last spring, but before leaving, she threw for 4,000 yards, 62 touchdowns, and won a district and regional title.
Oh, and she also had a viral moment when she threw a dime to her wide receiver for a touchdown in a video with millions of views on TikTok.
"When I woke up in the morning, it was posted, and I saw that it had 2 million views. I was shocked," said Hanson.
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While she was shocked, she became an overnight celebrity.
"At work, people would recognize me for being on the news, and they saw the video, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger," said Hanson. "It got to the point where people I hadn't talked to in years started sending me the video.”
While a person's memory may fade, videos on the internet are forever.
Hanson, a South Florida flag football legend, now turns towards college, where she will be playing at Hendrix College in Arkansas.
"I decided on Hendricks, because not only the coaching, but when I visited, it was like a family there," said Hanson. "I wanted to be a part of a team that is also like a family."
While Hendrix will be your family on the gridiron, we're also your family in Florida and rooting for you every step of the way, Ava.
