La Plata’s Jessica Chevez Earns 10 College Flag Football Scholarship Offers

LA PLATA, Md. — At just 17 years old, Jessica Chevez has quickly emerged as one of Maryland’s most promising girls flag football players.

A native of La Plata, Chevez only began playing girls flag football two years ago. Through dedication, hard work and a passion for the sport, she has developed into one of the state’s top recruits. As she enters her senior year of high school, Chevez has already received 10 official college scholarship offers, making her one of only a handful of Maryland athletes to reach that milestone in the rapidly growing sport.

Her journey from newcomer to nationally recruited athlete is a testament to her determination and work ethic.

TheBayNet spoke with Jessica Chevez, her mother, Gloria M. Sewell-Chevez, and Maryland Divas head coach Daniel “Coach Scrap” Daras about Jessica’s rise in the sport.

Daras said Chevez’s attitude separates her from many athletes.

“She comes out wanting to learn every single time,” Daras said. “She asks questions when she doesn’t know. The biggest thing about her is her personality and her bright smile. There’s never a dull moment with Jessica. I’ve never seen her upset. Even if she drops the ball, she laughs about it, smiles and goes back out the next play and catches it.”

He said her willingness to learn has been one of the biggest factors in her development.

“She’s not afraid to ask questions,” Daras said. “That’s what tells you she wants to learn. She takes what we tell her, what her parents tell her and what other players tell her, and she uses it to her advantage. She has improved tremendously.”

Before discovering girls flag football, Chevez participated in a variety of sports, including cheerleading, dance and soccer. She also played coed flag football, which helped prepare her for the transition to the girls’ game.

“My mom had to pay for travel cheer, travel soccer, dance — everything,” Chevez said. “I played soccer the last three years at my high school until flag football really took off.”

Chevez said she plans to play flag football during her senior year after reaching out to her school’s coaches to see whether a program would be available.

“I emailed the coaches to see what was going on and if they had a flag program,” she said. “They said, ‘Yeah, sure, bring her in.'”

Although many of the fundamentals carried over from coed flag football, Chevez noticed some differences.

“The girls are less aggressive than the boys,” she said. “We were all kind of new to it. The boys already knew about it because of tackle football.”

Chevez’s rapid improvement has attracted attention from college programs across the country. She has received scholarship offers from schools including Bridgeport, Post University, High Point, Cedar Crest and Holy Family, with additional offers continuing to arrive.

Jessica’s mother, Gloria M. Sewell-Chevez, said promoting her daughter on social media and recruiting platforms played a major role in increasing her exposure.

“I would push her videos everywhere,” Sewell-Chevez said. “I guess that kind of boosted her.”

She also made sure Jessica consistently uploaded game film to her recruiting profile.

“Before, it was just a few videos,” Sewell-Chevez said. “Now she’s putting everything on there. Every time she gets alerts, I get alerts too. It’s become so much that I started an Excel spreadsheet just to keep track of all the schools.”

While Chevez’s football future continues to grow, she also has plans beyond the field. She hopes to major in cybersecurity while competing at the collegiate level.

Her long-term goal is to play professionally and, if given the opportunity, represent the United States in the Olympics. With flag football set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, Chevez hopes one day to compete on the sport’s biggest international stage.

Readers can follow Jessica Chevez’s journey on her YouTube channel and on Instagram.

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