Belgreen High School senior Dacota Green made history last week when she declared her intention to take her talents to the collegiate level. On Wednesday, April 9, the accomplished multi-sport athlete for the Bulldogs put pen to paper and committed to the Northwest Shoals Community College women’s flag football team, becoming the first to sign for the incipient Patriot program.
“I’m very excited about it,” Green told the Franklin Free Press.
Green was a standout player on the Lady Bulldogs’ basketball team, leading BHS in scoring her senior season with just over 13 points-per-game and was a FFP First Team All-Franklin County selection. She is also a member of the Lady Bulldogs’ varsity softball team, currently ranked in the top 10 in Class 2A.
Although not involved in any sanctioned flag football program at Belgreen, Green said that she does have some familiarity playing flag football, and she’s looking forward to playing the sport at NWSCC.
“At school we have these tournaments, so I have some experience playing flag football. It’s nothing really serious, but I really liked it,” she said. “Coach (Jamie) Jeffreys came and watched some of my sporting events in basketball and softball and said he was interested in me. I knew the game was fun, so I decided I wanted to play.”
Jamie Jeffreys was announced as the first head coach of the NWSCC women’s flag football program on February 27, 2025, after the college’s athletic department announced the addition of the program in November of last year.
Jeffreys, who has 24 years of football coaching experience in Alabama, as well as experience coaching women’s sports in his 37-year teaching career, said he was thrilled about Green’s decision to join his new team.
“We are delighted to have Dacota. She’s a special young lady that comes from a special family,” Jeffreys said. “What’s really exciting is that she’s our first (signing), and that’s really awesome. That’s history. I think this sport is here to stay, and she’ll be a part of the founding class. To be able to walk in that history and say you were a part of it, that’s exciting.
“Dacota’s a good athlete, and there’s no doubt that she can play the sport, but what really drew me to her was her leadership ability, her academic prowess, and her competitive spirit. That’s what we’re looking for,” Jeffreys added.
Jeffreys also feels that Green’s ability on the court and on the diamond will translate well to the football field.
“What struck me about this sport…was that there is a lot of crossover from basketball and, to some degree, softball in terms of the kinds of athletes you want and the way you move around,” he said. “A lot of the offensive scheme we’ll use is based on the principle of spreading the field, so spreading the floor is kind of the same idea. It’s about spacing and being in constant motion.
“Dacota’s skill set—somebody who knows how to move around the floor, knows how to use her body to affect and project physicality, knows how to make good decisions and read the opposition—I think that will translate over really, really well to the football field,” he added.
Green, Jeffreys said, can be seen as a model for the types of athletes NWSCC will be looking for, at least in the near future. Although flag football has grown in popularity over the past few years, and the AHSAA added it as a sponsored sport in 2021, the game has not yet taken off in northwest Alabama. While Jeffreys is optimistic the sport will take root in the local area in the years to come, the pool of nearby recruits NWSCC will be targeting will likely look a lot like Green—talented, multi-sport athletes who may not have the opportunity to play their primary sport at the college level.
“What I saw in this area is a rich history of girls’ basketball and softball and an emergent force in track and soccer. I thought that was the best place to start looking for our athletes,” Jeffreys said. “When you look at the Shoals area, from Franklin County up to the Tennessee state line, there are some tremendous girls programs, not only that win at the state level but are competitive year in and year out. What that tells me is we have a pool of girls who are competitive, athletic, who have a desire to continue that and have the academic wherewithal to go to college, but they’re not all going to get a scholarship to play basketball or softball.
“We’re targeting those players and players across the state who are playing in (flag football) programs already, but we are committed to, in the near future, having a very large percentage of our players being from the local area,” he added. “Of course, that’s going to depend on growing the sport, but we’re committed to helping do that and doing whatever we can to help grow that base here locally.”
Green is the first of the up to 15 scholarship players NWSCC will look to sign leading into the inaugural season. The scholarship will allow Green to have her education paid for while she continues her athletic career, something she isn’t taking for granted.
“Thank the good Lord for that. I know student loans are not something fun to pay off,” she said. “I’m excited about that and it’s going to help out a whole lot.”
Green added that she’s enthusiastic about joining the Patriots in the fall.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people from around the state and just ready to get started,” she said.
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