Flag football: North Ridgeville grad Isabella Geraci turns love of football into spot on U.S. national team

Isabella Geraci couldn't remember what month the tryouts were held. She'll never forget the outcome. Geraci, a North Ridgeville High School graduate, was chosen for USA Football's Women's Flag National Team that will compete at the World Championship in August in Lahti, Finland. She was invited to the national team trials — they were in the beginning of March — and made the cut from 60 to 18. Early this month she attended the team's training camp and survived the cut to the final 12-woman roster. "Amazing. I can't even put into words to describe how honored I am," she said recently by phone. "It happened very fast. I feel like everything's such a blur." The whirlwind was real. Geraci, 23, started playing flag football about seven months ago in a recreational league in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she lives. She had known for a while she wanted to return to football and try to play at the highest level but didn't expect the goal to be realized so quickly. Or to be destined for Finland. "I'm super excited. I really can't even believe it," she said. "But I heard their seafood's great, so I'm looking forward to that, too." Geraci, who plays slot receiver, is part of the dynamic growth in flag football. The sport will debut in the Summer Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles. "I've thought about it. That's the goal as of now," she said. "Well, after Finland. Short term, Finland, long term, 2028 Olympics. It's crazy." She isn't getting ahead of herself and appreciates being part of the national team. "I still have to sit back and realize what I'm able to do right now," Geraci said. "I'm so excited to rep the red, white and blue." A family connection makes it even more special. Her younger brother Nicholas will enter the Air Force Academy this month with the goal of being a fighter pilot. He wasn't admitted after his senior year at North Ridgeville, spent a year at the University of Akron studying mechanical engineering and participating in ROTC and made it this time. "I like to think that I get to be a piece of him," Geraci said. "It's cool to think about like that. My family gets to rep the flag in two different ways." Her road to wearing the stars and stripes began as a little girl with the boys. Geraci started flag football when she was 7. She played tackle in middle school and as a freshman for the Rangers before stopping to focus on basketball. She starred on the court and in track and field in high school. She left North Ridgeville as the all-time leading scorer with 1,199 points and averaged 17.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 2.4 assists as a senior. She was Lorain County Miss Basketball and second-team All-Ohio. In 2017 she finished sixth in the state in Division I in the high jump and the next year finished fourth in high jump (5 feet, 8 inches) and sixth in long jump (18-0.75). She was the co-Lorain County record holder for high jump from 2018-23. She played basketball at Cleveland State before finishing at University of South Carolina Upstate, where she played basketball and competed in the long and high jumps for the track team. She missed football the whole time. "A hundred percent," Geraci said. She stressed her love of basketball but noted the difference she feels during practice. "At basketball I'm dreading this. 'How is it not over yet?'" she said. "And I just don't get that with football. I just want to be out there all the time. I just always want to be doing it." Her basketball coach at North Ridgeville, Amy Esser, knew how much football meant to Geraci. Esser used to play in a flag league and would joke with Geraci that she'd sign her up when she was old enough. "She's always loved football," Esser said. "And I'm not saying Izzy wasn't a great basketball player, she was, but I always thought in my mind she was destined for something even bigger and better. It just opens the doors for so many more opportunities for females in sports." The passion for football began as a kid watching Ohio State with her uncle Mike Haskins. Geraci wore No. 7 because of Ted Ginn Jr. and "absolutely loved" the Buckeyes. Despite years away from the sport, she never lost sight of it. "I had football on my radar while I was still in college," she said. "I debated between flag or tackle and it just seemed like flag was really picking up and I thought it'd be fun to try something new like that." The goal was ambitious: making the national team. "I want to be on this stage and I want to compete at the highest level for this sport," she said. Geraci made a plan and went to work. In addition to the Wednesday rec league, she traveled to tournaments, got game film of herself and shared it. The national team has a digital combine in which a player submits videos of athletic tests and drills, so she did that and then played in a larger tournament in Florida in front of the scouts. "They got to see me play there, so that helped me out a ton," she said. "I got my invite to trials through all of that." The trials and camp were in Charlotte, and the competition was "insane." "It's literally the best of the best," she said. "I felt like this happened so quick for me, I kind of feel out of place, but I got the invite for a reason. It was really, really tight competition. "I was very, very thankful and just honestly happy to be there and happy to learn from such talented athletes and coaches. So I was just really starstruck." With five players on offense and defense, Geraci's is a slot receiver who can play defensive back if needed. She's 5-foot-9 with great burst. "I always told Izzy she was a great basketball player, but more than that, she was just an amazing athlete," Esser said. "Her versatility, her ability to jump and move and just her pure athleticism is what stood her apart from a lot of the people that she played against. She's able to use all those skills to elevate her football talent." The first International Federation of American Football flag world championship was in 2002. The U.S. medaled for the first time in 2010, broke through with gold in 2018 and repeated in 2021. The U.S. is No. 1 in the world ranking, with Mexico second, Canada third and Great Britain fourth. "We kind of have a target on our back," Geraci said. "You just kind of set that standard, we're always going to win gold. So other countries are out to get us, but for a good reason, we are the best." Contact Scott Petrak at (440) 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @scottpetrak on X.