West Palm Beach, FL (AHN) - Nearly every football fan in the U.S. knows that the state of Florida is renowned for producing some of the best college and pro football talent on the planet.

Now, the state is adding to its football player-producing reputation. This time though - with a different gender.

Flag football is the fastest growing girls' high school sport in the state and according to two respected high school athletic directors and one well-known head coach in the sport; it may be coming to an area near you soon.

In an AHN exclusive interview, three esteemed Florida high school athletic representatives shared their feelings on the sport of flag football for females.

Former Spanish River High School head coach and current Boca Raton High School athletic director, Bill Massey, is generally credited as the driving force behind bringing the sport to the Central Florida region and helping it to gain more attention and growth. Massey also led his Spanish River teams to the first two unofficial state championships.

Russell Wambles, Athletic Director at Apopka High School, which has one of Florida's best high school flag football programs, commented on Massey's contributions.

"I think Bill Massey has had the biggest impact on flag football becoming a legitimate sport," Wambles said. "He is flag football."

Massey spoke of how he became involved with the sport and it current growth spurt.

"I've always had an interest in the game," Massey said. "I used to play years ago and there was a real call for gender equity about 10 years ago so we surveyed the girls and that's what they wanted."

Massey said the early stages of trying to legitimize the sport, were challenging.

"We started out 10 years ago in just our county," Massey said. "We got a Florida Parks and Recreation rule book and went from there. We had 60 schools playing the first year and now we're up to 152 schools."

Florida, along with Alaska, are the only two states that sanction the sport at the high school level while no states sanction flag football as a boys' sport.

Massey is hoping that changes soon and that more states will begin to recognize flag football as a legitimate competitive athletic sport.

"We eventually adopted the National Intramural Recreation Association rules and now we hope that another state or two picks up flag football as a legitimate sport," Massey said.

Florida began its program in 1998 with 17 schools fielding girls' teams. By 2003, the Florida High School Athletic Association recognized the sport as an interscholastic sport and began holding state championships

Over 4,000 girls at nearly 150 schools now participate in the sport.

Wambles said he has seen the growth firsthand and that, although he was initially skeptical about its chances for survival, is now a full-fledged supporter and believer in the sport and its future.

"This is my second year at Apopka and I can tell you the sport is growing rapidly," said Wambles. "It's a lot of fun to watch and the kids absolutely love it. The sport is just growing tremendously."

Wambles said he had some initial worries that the sport would draw athletes away from the traditional female sports; thereby hurting some of the school's other athletic programs.

"I was concerned that we would not attract new athletes," Wambles said. "My gut feeling at the time was that we were going to draw away from other sports."

Massey and Wambles both said that what originally started out as a fun-filled recreation sport has become more complex - and competitive.

"There has been a tremendous improvement in the skill level of these girls. They are a lot more interested in honing their skills," Massey said. "We started off as a novelty, but the sport has gained a lot of legitimacy recently."

Wambles concurred with his counterpart.

"It started out as fun and games, but it's evolved to the point where we have people filming games and scouting so there are a lot of different aspects to it now," Wambles added. "It really has unlimited potential. Most of the girls are multi-sport athletes and cheerleaders and they love it."

Apopka High School head coach Matt Houvouras also shared his feelings on the sport, its growth and his school's contributions to its popularity.

"Flag football's popularity is growing for many reasons," Houvouras said. "It is fast-paced, fun and it is one of the last pure sports since nobody's scholarship or professional aspirations are riding on the game."

Houvouras said the fact that Florida is a national hotbed for football players is not lost on his female players, many of whom have been playing football since they were nearly toddlers.

"Apopka is one of those places where football is part of the fabric of the community. We have produced several NFL players like Warren Sapp and Brandon Merriweather and these girls play it growing up. They were thrilled when we first started playing it as a club sport about 10 years ago and now we get over 100 girls each year trying out."

Houvouras has built Apopka into the most successful flag football program in the state, with a six-year record of 83 wins and only five losses with three trips to the state championship series and the 2004 state championship.

However, Houvouras said the state now possess more parity - and talent - than ever.

"There is excellent parity in the state now with teams from South Florida to Central Florida and Tallahassee having won championships," Houvouras said.

Houvouras proudly said he perennially gets the school's best athletes in every sport to come out and eagerly play and that many appreciate that there is no added pressure.

"We get the best female athletes in the school out on the field every year. We have almost the entire basketball team play, some of the best soccer players and some of our best players are also competitive cheerleaders," Houvouras said.

"To retain these athletes, we are very flexible. We don't sweat the fact that they might have to miss a game for an AAU tournament or club soccer or cheerleading competition. There is no pressure from us, so they come out and they return in droves."

The game features four 12-minute quarters and are subject to National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association rules, which feature seven players on each side. Every player is an eligible receiver and a dropped ball is a dead ball.

There are a lot of pitchouts and laterals in the game, making it more similar to rugby than American football though tackling is not allowed.

Massey said the foundation is in place for flag football to have nearly limitless growth in high schools and colleges across the country.

"We have a pretty good framework for growth but for us, it's a two-fold situation. We'd like to see more states pick it up at the high school level and we'd also like to see it become a collegiate sport," Massey said. "It's not very expensive for schools, so we think everything is a win-win situation. There are already huge recreation leagues and intramural leagues on campuses all over Central Florida. The format's right there, so again, we think it's a win-win situation," he added.

Thanks to Massey's contributions and those who supported him in the early going, now, when you think of Florida football players, think of both genders.