This first Georgia Elite Classic Showcase this year was held at Blessed Trinity High School on Sunday evening, and in an historic moment, the GEC had its first flag football player participate in the event, North Cobb wide receiver, Amaia Hardy. Hardy is the first-ever female participant in the event in the 11-year history of the Georgia Elite Classic after registration was opened to flag football players around the state for the first time in 2024.
After her impressive performance in the Georgia Elite Classic Showcase on Sunday, Hardy earned the first-ever spot in the 2024 Georgia Elite Classic Flag Football All-Star games, paving the way for female players around the state to show up and compete.
“I was very excited and very proud of myself,” Hardy stated. “I’m glad that I had this opportunity to show what I can do. I was very nervous as well.”
Since the Georgia Elite Classic was founded in 2013, the event has been through a multitude of changes that have developed the all-star games into what they are today. What started out as a junior all-star game when it was initially established has evolved into something much greater after a combination of changes were taken into effect.
The GEC has grown in multiple ways after the inaugural event in 2013. It has seen changes such as expanding to all high school grades, adding middle school players and televising each all-star game on network television as they have for the last five years.
This year’s all-star games will be televised on the Peachtree Sports Network for the second time in event history.
While each addition has improved and benefited the event year after year, there is a new addition in 2024 that is a true game changer for the foreseeable future: adding flag football.
“I loved it,” said On3’s Rusty Mansell, the Chairman of the Georgia Elite Classic Selection Committee. “I am glad she was there, it took a lot of courage for her to walk up and take reps with those players. She listened, she learned, she competed, and she left with a smile.”
Hardy fully participated in the Showcase, displaying her skills on the field against the quality talent in attendance.
Even though she was the stand-alone female participant, Hardy broke the mold on Sunday, competing for a Georgia Elite Classic invitation, which she earned.
“I wanted to sign up because I feel like I want to get the exposure and being on TV will be fun,” said Hardy. “I just wanted to show them what I could do and put my skills to the test.”
Hardy began playing football when she was roughly eight years old while watching her brothers train. She came to the realization that she was not content being a spectator, but instead wanted to train and participate with her siblings, picking up the sport early on.
Before high school, Hardy never played in a flag football league. With soccer as her primary sport, she would continue to play, but continued to train for football with her brothers.
Entering her freshman year at North Cobb, Hardy noticed the school had a flag football team and tried out. She would inevitably make the team in her freshman season last year and will continue to play for the Warriors this season.
Being a member of both the North Cobb flag football and girls soccer team’s, Hardy puts her athletic ability on full display whether it’s on the pitch or the field. The rising-sophomore trains for both sports year-round, improving skills in footwork and conditioning.
Hardy has gone from not having a flag football team to play on, to her playing on television for her first time when the Georgia Elite Classic Flag Football All-Star Game will be televised by the Peachtree Sports Network in December.
“I am very excited, like very excited,” said Hardy. “I am going to be nervous but I am going to make sure I put in all I can.”
With Hardy being the first flag football player to be invited to the GEC in history, she encourages female players around the state to continue to play and compete everyday to receive the exposure they deserve.
“You know you are a girl, you can do the same things that boys can do,” said Hardy. “Don’t give up, just put in the work and everything will pay off.”
In her time playing flag football, Hardy has noticed numerous ways the game has changed since she started.
The heightened intrigue from fans and the ever-growing knowledge of the game from her coaches and teammates shows how the sport has continued to progress.
“It’s a lot. From my team my freshman year, some people didn’t know different plays so I had to show them. Now we do summer workouts. It’s grown a lot, people are learning the game of flag football,” said Hardy.
Hardy will become the first flag football player to play in the Georgia Elite Classic with the hopes of opening the floodgates for more female players to go out and compete in the future.
“I hope more girls want to compete in camps and help promote flag football in this state. She earned her ticket to the Georgia Elite Classic and she will always be the first,” Mansell said.
Don’t miss Hardy and the rest of the flag football invitees at the Georgia Elite Classic All-Star Games on December 27 at McEachern High School, live on the Peachtree Sports Network.
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