Wedemeyer game adds flag football, opens door for daughter to follow in dad’s footsteps
SAN JOSE — Melia Morales had a dream.
After watching family friends play football at Bellarmine as a child, she wanted to get on the field herself. But at that time, there was no viable path to do so.
Fast-forward about a decade. Morales is now a star linebacker on the flag football team at Notre Dame-San Jose and will live out another dream on Saturday.
She will play in the first flag football edition of the Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game, a new addition to this year’s festivities that welcomes the best flag football players from Santa Clara County to take part.
The flag game will kick off the doubleheader at Los Gatos High School at 2 p.m., then the 51st edition of the tackle football game will be played at 5 p.m.
For the Morales family, it is a full-circle moment. Melia’s father Jose played in the 1997 edition of the game representing Mt. Pleasant, which was an aspiration of his entering his senior season.
Melia and Jose are now the first known father-daughter tandem to participate in the storied All-Star showcase.
“He told us his junior year, his main goal was to be good enough so he could play in the Wedemeyer game his senior year,” Melia said. “So I grew up on the stories of it. I was so excited, because it was so cool. My dad loved playing sports growing up, and he has three daughters, so he didn’t think any one of us would be able to play tackle football.
“But now that they have flag football, my little sister and I love it. I’m so happy I get to be able to carry that legacy and be able to play the same game he loved and be able to follow in his footsteps.”
Melia’s younger sister Natalia, a freshman, plays linebacker and wide receiver for NDSJ’s junior varsity team. The hope in the family is she will be the next Morales to participate in the Wedemeyer game in three years’ time.
“Awesome times, man,” Jose said. “It seems like full circle, in a sense. So amazing to see these kids. It’s a trip to see all these kids that are playing flag football and the girls making tough catches, making tough throws and tackles, diving tackles and pulling the flags. And the game’s evolved so quick. It’s pretty fun to watch.”
For Lucy Wedemeyer, Charlie’s widow, that dream is also alive. The Wedemeyers’ granddaughter Makena is a freshman on Los Gatos’ varsity team, which finished as the runner-up at the first Central Coast Section Open Division flag football championship in November.
No thanks to a certain former 49ers quarterback and assistant coach for Menlo School, which won the inaugural title.
“She is absolutely loving the sport and the girls, and the coaching and the strategy and all that goes with it,” Wedemeyer said. “At the CCS game, we were ahead at the half, and then somebody gave a pep talk, and they beat us. I happened to see somebody at the Niners game, which would be Mr. (Steve) Young, that started the whole thing. I said, ‘Thanks a lot. You guys beat us.’ He was laughing. And he said he just had to do it.”
Wedemeyer, of course, already had a deeply personal connection to the game. But the emergence of flag football in the Bay Area has energized her and the event’s mission even more.
“Her first game was a freezing cold game,” Lucy said of Makena. “When I was sitting in the stands, I stood up and I was pretty emotional, because here she was playing on the Los Gatos field that her dad played and her grandfather coached on. It was a real emotional rush. I never imagined – my daughter wouldn’t let her boys play football. So this was pretty impressive. These girls are so excited. It’s just wonderful to think how fun it’s going to be on Saturday.”
Morales is certainly champing at the bit, and she realizes the opportunity that she and the other players have to set the stage for those who come after them.
“I want to be able to set the legacy for other girls to be able to play,” Morales said. “My sister, her friends as well, they’ve told me, ‘Oh my God, I can’t wait till I’m a senior and I can maybe play in this game.’ I had a lot of people reach out and be like, ‘This is so cool. I’m so happy for you. I can’t believe this is an option.’”
The Wedemeyer game has been a rite of passage for generations of boys in Santa Clara County. Starting Saturday, it becomes one for girls as well.
“The first person I called was my dad, because I was just so happy to be able to tell him that I was going to be able to play and be in the game that he loved, and that he always tells us stories about,” Morales said. “Being a part of the team has honestly been the highlight of my high school career. I honestly could not imagine my life if I had not started playing it, because it’s transformed my life in so many ways.
“I have an offer to play in college now. I have so many opportunities I’ve gained from it. I’m able to say I was the first Notre Dame captain, which is honestly the greatest honor. I owe a lot of my love for the sport to my dad, because he was the one who kept pushing me to try it: ‘It’s something new. No one’s done it before. You should be the first one to do it. And you can start that legacy yourself.’”
Full rosters and further details can be found at santaclaraallstar.com.