Not many high school football players get the chance to play in a professional sports venue, not to mention a professional soccer stadium. 

That will be the reality for three area schools who will participate in the inaugural Pikes Peak Kickoff Classic doubleheader Friday at Weidner Field. The event is hosted by the Pikes Peak Athletic Foundation with proceeds going to the foundation to support Pikes Peak region youth athletics.

In the first-ever football game on the Switchbacks home field, the Fountain-Fort Carson girls flag football team will take on Colorado Springs Christian School at 4:30 p.m., followed by a tackle football matchup between Palmer Ridge and La Cueva (New Mexico) at 7:30.

“I kind of just jumped into the sport because I heard it was fun,” CSCS quarterback Hayley Helwege said. “I would have never envisioned such a big event that we would be able to play in. I’m super excited about it.”

That excitement to play on a big stage extends across each program, all of whom participated in a media day for the event at Weidner Field on Tuesday.  

For Lions head coach Aaron Moore, he sees the event as an opportunity to represent girls flag football, which has increasingly grown in popularity. CSCS is in its fourth year as a program and looks forward to highlighting its offseason work against the Trojans. 

“This game, in my opinion, is an opportunity for these girls to be empowered in a way that they wouldn’t be otherwise as traditionally a man’s sport,” Moore said. “It’s a way for these girls to step up, be tough, hold their head up high, gain some character, and whenever they’re done playing this sport, they carry themselves with a different kind of confidence that they wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Fountain-Fort Carson is in its second year as a program and lost 12 seniors to graduation. Still, the team sees Friday’s game as an opportunity to build off last year’s 4-9 season. The game against the Lions will be the Trojans’ fifth contest in nine days. 

“It’s just such a fast-growing sport right now, so, I think we’re all just super proud to be here,” Trojan quarterback Grayce Jacobs said. “Even though we are a new team, playing here with such a big crowd will help us grow.”

Nate Lenz, Pikes Peak Athletic Foundation founder, hopes to make this an annual event and highlight different programs throughout the region. For Lenz, it was a no-brainer to include flag and tackle football. 

“The original idea was, let’s celebrate the beginning of fall sports,” Lenz, a Colorado Springs native, said. “With flag football being a fall sport, and having this great venue to highlight it, it only makes sense to also include one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.”

For Palmer Ridge, the Bears are approaching the game like any other. The 2025 4A state runner-up is coming off a 35-14 win over Pueblo East and looking forward to facing an out-of-state opponent. 

La Cueva was an easy choice for the event, since it was already set to face the Bears later this season. Palmer Ridge plans to provide buses for its students to create a loud student section Friday night. 

“It’s cool to be invited to participate in things like this,” coach Zach Carlton said. “I’m really looking forward to playing a really high-quality program in La Cueva. When I saw them on film, it’s very much a spitting image of us. They are athletic, they are disciplined, they are well coached. I’m really looking forward to the challenge that they present us.” 

Friday’s game is open to the public with kids and students free with a valid ID and adult tickets are $15 covering both games. The event will also feature a Fan Zone with a live DJ, food trucks, and games on Sahwatch Street.