‘Be the best’: Shadow Ridge flag football star signs with Big 10 school

Jaylani Palmer had just helped Shadow Ridge win the Class 5A flag football state championship at Allegiant Stadium in February when she started to turn her attention to deciding which college she would attend.

That’s around the time when Nebraska started calling.

Nebraska won Palmer over, and the Shadow Ridge athlete signed with the school’s flag football team last week to become the first Nevada high school flag football athlete to sign with a power conference school.

“It was more surreal, because every time that we would call, (the coaches) would tell me (about) all the opportunities that they were getting from the college,” Palmer said. “Then I had to think about it. It was a tough process, deciding between colleges.

“So, when I went to go visit and see everything in front of my eyes, it was really cool. It was hard to say no to.”

Flag football is currently offered at junior colleges and at the club level at NCAA colleges. The 2027-28 school year will be the first year for NCAA championship flag football and Nebraska will play its first season in Spring 2028.

“I’m just so grateful and blessed to be able to be a part of this process, especially with it being with a bigger school,” Palmer said. “It’s just going to be able to pave the way for girls flag football even more, and to be a part of the process and watch everything grow in front of my eyes, that’s going to be amazing.”

‘A silent assassin’

Liz Sowers is the coach at Ottawa University (Kansas). She has led the school to five straight National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national titles and in June will leave to take over and build the program at Nebraska.

Sowers said she was made aware of Palmer as a freshman by former Coronado quarterback Maci Joncich, a current member of the USA national team.

“You can just tell that she has a work ethic. She wants to be the best,” Sowers said of Palmer.

On the field, Sowers called Palmer a “ball hawk” and was impressed by athletic catches she would make as a two-way athlete playing both offense and defense.

“It’s almost like a silent assassin. That’s exactly what she is,” Sowers said. “It’s something that Nebraska prides itself on. It’s that hard work. It’s not flashy, anything crazy. It’s just that middle-America, hard work ethic that she has, and you can see it in everything she does.”

Palmer’s 70 interceptions are a Nevada high school record and she is second in receiving touchdowns with 130. The title in February was the third for Palmer in her high school career.

Palmer is a part of a class of flag football athletes from Nevada that are competing in the sport collegiately and at the national level. In March, four former Southern Nevada high school flag football athletes were named to the initial roster for the USA women’s national team, and several other play for USA flag football youth teams.

“I see it all around, the best players in the country, I think, come from Vegas,” Palmer said. “Those are my closest friends. So being able to see all of us thrive and succeed at the sport is really cool. It’s a unique process to be a part of and something that’s only happens once in your life.”

Growing ‘evolution’

Sowers credited much of her success at Ottawa to the players from Southern Nevada that she recruited. With flag football coming into more colleges and soon reaching the NCAA level, Sowers said more athletes have been encouraged to stick to the sport

“You’re seeing those athletes that love the game and have the skill at the highest level — are sticking to flag (football),” Sowers said. “The parents are seeing the investment worth it, putting their young child into a flag football program at a young age. They’re now seeing the benefits of what that could look like. That really drives everything from the beginning. You’re going to continue to see that evolution even more.”

The sport will debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. That has also correlated with the rise nationwide of the sport, with the NFL’s campaign to make girls flag football a sanctioned sport in all 50 states.

“Considering it being in the Olympics, I think it encourages more girls to try out with the sport, and more women and just girls of all ages, really, just to try something new,” Palmer said. “I think it’s really cool.”