The 2026-2027 school year will proudly introduce the newest Millikin sports program, led by Coach Joan Catanese: Women’s Flag Football.

“It’s a fast-paced game. It’s exciting. For those people who haven’t watched it, watch it. I mean, it goes so fast, and the amount of talent that it takes actually to play is more than people really realize,” Catanese said.

Millikin announced on September 25th that it will add two new sports for the following year, including Women’s Flag Football. Millikin continues its commitment to widening access for female student-athletes and helping grow the newest and entertaining sports.

They announced that the former Tight Ends and Special Teams Co-Coordinator of the Millikin Men’s Football team, Joan Catanese, will be the coach tasked with building up the program.

“Well, you know, I think flag football is excellent because it fits our mold of performance learning and our mission. Because it’s hands-on leadership, you have your personal development on and off the field. All of those things are things that we’re going to be able to provide for these young women and help them be leaders, not only on the field, but off the field,” Catanese said.

Sports have been a huge part of Catanese’s life, competing in soccer and as a junior fencer. But most prominently, Catanese competed in women’s tackle football, allowing for a better understanding of the game and what it offers.

“I have been in the profession for 23 years, I’ve been an athlete my whole life… I had the opportunity to play sports all through college, which was great… but I also played Women’s pro tackle football in three different franchises,” Catanese said. “So that was really exciting for me to be able to live out my dream and do what I wanted to do… It just made sense to get into coaching just because I loved it so much, so once my football career was over, it was an easy way to transition into coaching.”

Catanese also has many years of coaching experience under her belt since she has coached multiple different sports throughout her career. 

“So when I started coaching, I was the inaugural softball coach at a middle school. So, I had to build that program from scratch,” Catanese said. “If it could be coached, I coached it. I coached track and field, basketball, softball, soccer, all of it. I worked my way up from middle school, then ended up at a high school… I became the head freshman coach, then the assistant head coach of varsity under Stephen Dennis, who was an incredible gentleman.”

Catanese is very grateful for the people she has met on her coaching journey and how they helped shape her own mentality as a coach.

“I’ve had really great mentors that helped shape my career, and hopefully I can pay it forward and do what they did for me for other people,” Catanese said.

Catanese also had a significant moment in her career when she interned with the Atlanta Falcons, a massive accomplishment that only very few are able to experience. This presented numerous challenges, which helped her continue to grow as a coach.

“[It was] very humbling, really challenging, exciting. There’s really not enough words to explain it,” Catanese said. “They were top notch and great and were very generous with their knowledge… everyone, from Mr. Blanks, who is the owner, all the way down to the custodial staff. There was not one person that wasn’t welcoming, and just wanted to see the best in me, and everyone was willing to help.”

Catanese joined Millikin’s Men’s Football staff just two years ago under former Head Coach Carlton Hall. She was in love with Millikin right away because of the staff and unique values that the university has.

“There was an opportunity to interview for a position under former Head Coach Carlton Hall,” Catanese said. “I didn’t know what the campus looked like, but the staff was so kind. Then doing my research and then seeing how rich the traditions are here with the alumni and how loyal they are… but the level of pride at this institution, and for the people that become part of the Big Blue family, is unrivaled, and that was attractive to me.”

Catanese has begun recruiting and building the women’s flag football program, which is vital to the success she hopes to see. She has big dreams for what she expects the program to become, and that starts with what she’s looking for in the players she is recruiting.

“The biggest thing is, you know, we’re recruiting characters. We’re recruiting competitiveness, we want our girls to be super coachable,” Catanese said. “Our pillar is called ‘dream’. We want our recruits to be disciplined, we want them to have resilience, we want them to show effort, we want them to have a great attitude, and we want them to have a motive.”

Catanese hopes to build a program that will last through the years and is very aware of the opportunity that the players are going to be coming into.

“They’re building something from nothing,” Catanese said. “I’m here to facilitate and to guide them. The young women that we’re selecting, they’re going to be setting the standard of excellence in what this university is going to see Women’s Flag Football to be.”

Catanese has huge plans for the team, hoping to increase their involvement in the community and use the support of Millikin and fans to build the players into true leaders.

“It’s super important because to know that you’re supported by your university and the community, it helps drive you forward. But on the flip side of that, the biggest thing is we want our organization to be one that’s driven by servant leadership,” Catanese said. “We want to be able to give back to our community, and ultimately, I know that we have the support of the community; that outpouring has been overwhelming and emotional and just touching, really.”

Catanese has set ambitious goals for what this program can become, as she is ready to lead the team into the many ventures that may come. But mainly, she is hoping to have built something that, down the line, can be seen as the beginnings of an elite program.

“If I’m blessed enough to be part of the organization 10 years down the line… I would hope that the 2026 class that’s building this legacy is built on strength, striving for excellence, resiliency, tenacity, brains, bravery, empowerment, love, and dignity, and that I would hope that the organization would pull that through the years,” Catanese said.

Millikin Women’s Flag Football is set to begin in the 2026-2027 season and will signify the start of a new venture for Millikin and the Big Blue. Only time will tell what this program will become, but Coach Joan Catanese is ready to take it to its full potential. 

“I want people to be like, that’s our flag football team, and that they’re proud of us and that they’re going to be with us, sink or swim,” Catanese said.