ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Excitement continues to build as the fastest growing sport in high school and college athletics is coming to Roberts Wesleyan University.

Women's flag football will make its debut as Roberts hosts Geneseo State in its inaugural game at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The first game will take place less than 11 months after the Redhawks announced that they would be joining more than 100 other teams at the NCAA, NJCAA and NAIA levels that would be sponsoring flag football.

"Our team motto is lay the foundation, and that's what we are trying to do," Redhawks head coach Fricano said.

Fricano was hired about three weeks after the program was announced and he immediately started recruiting by reaching out to high school coaches throughout the Rochester area where flag football has grown from six teams in 2022 to nearly 40 this spring.

"The backbone of a program is its people," Fricano said. "I worked to ingrain myself in the Section V flag football community and to let people know about the new program at Roberts."

Fricano's efforts paid off as he has assembled a 16-players roster for this season with five of the six first-year players coming from the Rochester area. Two of his first recruits – receiver/linebacker Kate Rayburn and quarterback Aimee Turner – were members of the Democrat and Chronicle's first All-Greater Rochester team last spring.

"I definitely wanted to be part of it because I knew how fun it was in high school and I wanted to be part of the inaugural year and helping the sport be seen in the right light," said Rayburn, a team captain who grew up playing soccer and said the addition of flag football played a significant role in her decision to come to Roberts.

Freshman Sarah Seyfang, who is also a member of the Redhawks women's basketball team, is also a co-captain. Seyfang played one season in high school at Kenmore West and led players in the Buffalo area with receptions while scoring 13 touchdowns and making five interceptions last spring. She was selected first-team All-Western New York by The Buffalo News.

"She's just a jump ball specialist," Fricano said. "She's not afraid to get her nose in there and be a hard-nosed player."

Turner, who was also a second-team AGR pick in basketball, led Greece Arcadia to a 10-0 regular-season record last spring and is a dynamic playmaker who will see time at quarterback along with sophomore Anna Varland, who played for Batavia in high school.

"Quarterback's a big piece of the puzzle, and we've got two good ones," Fricano said. "Aimee will spell Anna out, and Anna will spell Aimee out depending on the package we run."

Sophomore Aaliyah McCoy is a sprinter on the track and field team and will be a factor on both offense and defense.

"She is kind of our do-it-all jitterbug, jet sweep motion runner, but also she's our pass rusher," Fricano said. "She's just the fastest person on the field, so we'll use her in a lot of ways."

The same is true for Rayburn, who is comfortable at slot receiver and calling the defense as a linebacker.

"She's kind of that coach on the field and an incredible athlete as well," Fricano said.

In addition to having players with experience, the Redhawks have several players who have never played before but are eager to contribute and learn.

"From one to 16, we have a lot of unique skill sets," Fricano said. "I look forward to seeing how it all kind of meshes together in this first year."

The newcomers include sophomores Isabella Foggetti, a center, and Neve Tilley, a tight end and linebacker, and four members of the women's basketball team – Barbora Fronkova, Cristina Gonzalez-Simarro Rubio, Laura Granada and Danielle Offhaus.

"I have never played football in my life," said Simarro, who is from Spain and plays cornerback and tight end. "I really like the team, all of the girls are amazing, and I also really like the sport. It is very different from what I am used to, but it is so much fun."

The Redhawks had a scrimmage last week but are eager to get started. A pregame tailgate is planned for Saturday's opener and fans are encouraged to wear red to make the game a "Redout."

"I'm looking forward to finally getting onto the field," Rayburn said. "I'm very excited. I don't know how much of a crowd we'll get, but we're going out there to play our first game, and really just put it out there and see what we have and how we can grow from there."

Fricano, who played football in high school and college, believes flag football's seven-on-seven format allows players to showcase their skills.

"My team's going to play fast, they're going to play smart and they're going to know their roles," Fricano said. "I'm not going to scheme it up too much. I don't need to be Andy Reid. I just need to let them go and be athletes and put on a show."