Point Park Athletics has named former professional athlete and acclaimed coach Sharon Vasquez as the inaugural coach of the university’s women’s flag football program.
Vice President of Athletics Scott Swain announced the addition of women’s flag football as Point Park’s 20th varsity sport in September.
As a trailblazer for the growing sport of women’s football, Vasquez brings a wide variety of experience to Point Park.
She currently serves as the CEO of the HER Elite Flag program, a leading flag football program in Pennsylvania that resembles a summertime AAU team.
“Coach Vasquez definitely rose to the top,” Swain said. “She was successful at the local high school level. She knows the sport of flag football very well.”
She also founded and coached the Woodland Hills High School girls’ flag football team, which competes in the Steelers’ Girls Flag Football League. The team went 35-5 in three seasons, winning the NFL FLAG regional championship and a section title.
“She’s very, very well connected in Western Pa. with all the girls’ flag football high school programs, having been involved and coached in it,” Swain said.
Vasquez’s connection with the NFL extends beyond Woodland Hills, as she has previously assisted the NFL Play 60 and NFL FLAG programs. Swain said that Vasquez “came highly recommended from them.”
Before she took to coaching, Vasquez was a decorated athlete. She competed on the U.S. national teams for both women’s flag and tackle football, earning two gold medals and two silver medals between 2010 and 2013.
“[She] is really a good ambassador of the sport for both women’s flag and girls’ flag,” Swain said.
In the Steel City, Vasquez was a star player for the Pittsburgh Passion, the city’s professional tackle football team in the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL). She earned two national titles with the Passion in 2007 and 2015.
Vasquez uses her experiences while playing and coaching to create a foundation and begin planning initiatives for Point Park’s newest athletic program.
“It’s already a football town,” Vasquez said. “And to have the girls ride along with that culture is going to be something super amazing.”
Vasquez said she plans to create a partnership or collaboration between Point Park’s team and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as this will bring visibility to the university and its emerging athletic program.
Coach Vasquez also shared plans for a potential athletic camp hosted by Point Park to increase awareness and create interest among students.
“I think it’s going to bring the students together,” Vasquez said. “It’s something different, something new, it’s fresh.”
Vasquez will spend her inaugural year at Point Park recruiting her first team. Competition is set to take place in Spring 2027.
