CURRENT SPECIAL EXHIBITS
Play Like a Girl: Flag Football in the City of Champions
February 7, 2026 - July 12, 2026
Young women were historically denied the opportunity to participate in interscholastic sports to the same degree as young men. That changed in 1972 with the enactment of Title IX, a US federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination, changed that and mandated the formation of girls’ varsity sports at the high school level. At Massillon Washington High School the popularity of girls’ athletics exploded. By 2016, it seemed there was only one sport left waiting for its parallel to arrive—tackle football.
Girls’ varsity flag football came to Massillon in the spring of 2025 as the sport took off across the state of Ohio with support from the National Football League (NFL), the Cleveland Browns, and the Cincinnati Bengals. But establishing a team at Washington High School (WHS) was a process led from within by Becca Moore, WHS Student Services Support Specialist, and wife of Massillon’s head football coach, Nate Moore. Becca Moore worked to afford young women the same opportunities as those given to tackle football players in a city that lives and breathes for the sport.
Visitors will learn what makes flag different from tackle football, see action shots, portraits of players and a mini-documentary covering the season.
