SoCal Girls Athlete of the Week Nominees Feature Volleyball and Flag Football Stars
High School On SI has announced the nominees for the Southern California girls athlete of the week, featuring standout performances in volleyball, flag football, and field hockey. Among the highlights are a player recording 1,000 career kills and a quarterback throwing 10 touchdowns across two games. Voting closes on August 30.
The weekly honor roll spans three sports, with flag football dominating the nominee list. Four of the eight selections are flag football players, reflecting the sport's rapid growth across Southern California high schools. Kate Meier's JSerra squad remains undefeated at 8-0, while Blair Nolen's eight-touchdown output against West Torrance stands as the week's most prolific single-game stat line.
Volleyball also features prominently, highlighted by Lauren Furnald's milestone achievement. The Etiwanda standout became the first player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills, adding 21 more in a win over Temecula Valley. Voting closes August 30, with the winner announced in the following week's poll.
This recognition platform could meaningfully boost visibility for athletes in sports that often receive less media attention than football or basketball. Flag football's strong presence among nominees may reflect and reinforce its growing legitimacy as a competitive high school sport, potentially encouraging more schools to adopt programs. Community engagement through voting can strengthen local school pride, though the popularity contest format may disproportionately reward athletes from larger fan bases rather than purely on-field merit.