By Omar Ureña

CHICAGO, IL., April 11, 2024. 

The NAIA rocket booms loudly in Nevada. The Comets are ready to explode in a thousand colors and millions of small stars crushing each other as they launch to reach the sky and perhaps glory. Karla Martínez Rodríguez’s desire to win is reflected in the 2-point conversion she scored against Graceland. It was a remarkable game in which the Comets isolated the Iowa girls to conquer them with touchdowns by Amya Corulla, Joliette Johnson and Suzanne Aubert. The Cottey College Comets attacked the Graceland Yellowjackets and defeated them 58-0 in their stadium located in Nevada, Missouri. It was a cosmogonic triumph for the Comet girls and Martínez Rodríguez finished with 17 yards catching the ball.

So far it has been a hard and cold season for the Comets, but if there is someone who knows about character and resilience, it is Karla Martínez Rodríguez. In her senior year at Chicago’s Solorio Academy, this Sun Warrior became the first Chicago Public League (CPL) player to earn a scholarship to play flag football in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) .

The CPL is promoted by the Chicago Bears Community department, in which Gustavo Silva plays a very important role. The ‘Tochito’ League for Illinois high school girls launched in 2021. Twenty-two teams battled in an unforgettable tournament with the help of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the Chicago Bears, NFL Flag and Nike. In one of the toughest Hispanic neighborhoods on the south side, their players took it all. The flag football team from Back of the Yards HS fought hard to be Chicago’s first champions.

In February the unexpected happened and flag football became an official sport by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Today, more than 100 teams compete to be the best in Illinois. The inaugural Illinois Women’s Flag Football Championship is scheduled for October 11-12, 2024.

Karla Martínez Rodríguez is a focused and dedicated student-athlete. She knows how to play flag football, which reflects a collective heart in which the girls have their own way of playing football. Martínez Rodríguez in her last year at the Solorio Academy in Gage Park, played heroic games. Karla ran fast and furious and her teammates went crazy when they scored touchdowns.

The Solorio Academy Sun Warriors probably deserved the glory in 2023, but they faced a tremendous North Grand team in the CPL Playoffs. The Sun Warriors came up short losing 15-14. Despite the score, it truly was a victory in life for the community, family, and students of Solorio Academy. Karla is an impressive athlete who was also captain of Solorio’s soccer and basketball teams.

Flag football was designated an Olympic sport in October 2023 and the excitement magically spread. The time has come for women to grow in tackle football and flag football. This is the attitude needed so more girls can be inspired. It is possible that Karla will find a solar specter, as she might have a premonition, fighting to play flag football for the USA Football team in the 2028 Olympics. Why not her?

Karla Martínez Rodríguez landed at Cottey College to play women’s flag football and succeed academically; She is playing hard and working hard in the classrooms, her goal is to become a highly respected criminologist. Karla is the first in her family to attend college, her fight reflects the empowerment of girls to play flag football at the college level.

Last season the Comets finished 6-14, with those six wins being the most in the history of Cottey’s program. This 2023-2024 season the Comets have a record of 4-9. Their offense averages 8 points/game, so they are constellations of a team that faces adversity but Karla brings her joy to the field, she feels motivated to play for her teammates, a group of girls whom she sees and feels like a true family .

The Comets faced Southwestern a few days ago in a very close battle. The Comets gained 181 yards through the air and 50 on the ground to beat the Moundbuilders 6-0. This win felt huge for this plucky group as the 2024 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) season hasn’t been easy for Cottey College, so far the Comets have lost to Kansas Wesleyan, Midland, Saint Mary’s, Ottawa and Baker.

It’s another day; The Comets are ready to practice and Karla wants her teammates to visualize a championship and glory. She knows that she has to work hard while playing the role of a student athlete who can inspire other girls to compete for scholarships not only in the United States but also in Mexico. Her spirit will catapult her to have a great influence on the lives of other girls, just as Diana Flores did, the QB of the Mexican National Team who was raised in Santo Tomás by the IPN Águilas Blancas to become a true star after flying high in the NFL Flag Football commercial that aired at Super Bowl 57.

Karla Martínez was the captain of her team in 2023. Last year at Halas Hall the Bears hosted her and two other talented girls, Emma Jazmín Valenzuela and Saniya Shotwell, – both are players from Illinois who also earned a college scholarship -. These three heroic student-athletes had the opportunity to actually break down the Chicago Bears huddle in practice. 

They were fortunate to learn from the Steelers’ brand new QB, Justin Fields, as well as Darnell Mooney and Daurice Fountain. Bears CEO Kevin Warren and General Manager Ryan Poles gave the girls their personalized Bears jerseys to show respect and love for what they do on the field.

In November 2023, the Bears hosted 120 high school student-athletes at the Walter Payton Center to showcase their on-field talents for NAIA coaches. Martínez Rodríguez, Valenzuela and Shotwell took advantage of the opportunity, played with their heart and soul and finally their coaches made the decision to recruit all three.

We can’t say enough about a great Criminology student. We see a bright future for Karla but we even envision her being part of a flag football coaching system, in this case, a sustainable structure that cares deeply about Hispanic children playing Tochito in the Windy City.

The Chicago Tochito Soldiers club in Humboldt Park has expressed interest in inviting Karla to be one of the coaches of the free clinic for girls and boys of the Chicago Tochito Academy to be held in Humboldt Park (California and Division) and Evanston on July 13 and 14. Registration for this tournament and clinic is available at: Chicagotochito.com. This event will be led by former players from the University of Mexico such as Marco Ferzuli, former DE of the Cóndores and Oscar Clavellina, former coach of the Pumas C.U. and the Polytechnic Águilas Blancas.

It seems that the NCAA will have to readjust at some point to organize a women’s flag football championship. Meanwhile the NAIA and these talented young athletes are changing the world of college sports. This is a moment in history in which we will see these athletes fight to represent their country in Los Angeles 2028 and play with all their courage and pride for their families, whether in the United States, Mexico or Colombia.

This will be a memorable boost to become an intense grind. Grinding is in the roots of Karla Martínez Rodríguez and her family, she is a hard-working, self-sacrificing student athlete who leaves sweat and tears on the gridiron. She means truly succeeding on the field and in the classroom. She exemplifies how rocket routes must be changed in the orbit of women’s college flag football.