ABOUT US
Katie DiChiaro and Jennifer Kisslinger started an all-Girls Flag Football league in Fall of 2018. From the very first time the 30 young girls stepped onto the turf in 2018, Katie and Jenn committed to a mission of making sure young girls know they are entitled to be anywhere, without a second thought, including the football field. What started out as a 30-player pilot league, grew successfully into a wildly popular town recreational program. In 2019, Katie and Jennifer started the inaugural outdoor Fall Recreational Girls Flag football league with their town organization, the Somers Youth Sports Organization. SYSO has grown to a 22 team, 188 all girl league, ages 5 and up and is a part of the NFL FLAG program. As a result of this extraordinary success, they are ecstatic to be involved and become one of the first towns in New York to have a Youth Program that will feed into the newly sanctioned pilot High School Girls Varsity Flag Football Team in Spring 2022, for years to come.
Our population, consisting of families from Somers and many surrounding towns, have expressed a strong desire to elevate this program to the next level and play competitively in the tri-state area. With this motivation and in line with our mission, Katie and Jenn have set their sights on bigger accomplishments for females ages 5 and beyond. Of this goal, Gridiron Partners Inc. was born. Gridiron Partners sets in motion our plan for 2022 to launch and develop our own elite and competitive female leagues to serve Westchester and surrounding counties.
HISTORY AND EVOLUTION
Gridiron Partners, Inc. is the product of an organic story of female empowerment. The program was started as a result of a local after school program “Intro to Sports for Girls” run by Katie DiChiaro and Denise Barlanti for 1st and 2nd Grade girls after a unit in flag football was introduced. It garnered the interest of approximately 8 children and fellow mom Jennifer Kisslinger. In the fall of 2018, a pilot league was launched with the owner of Sports Center Consulting, a private indoor, predominately boys flag football league which registered 30 girls from ages 2nd-6th grades. In the Spring of 2019, an open house was held to gauge interest, 60 participants attended and resulted in 80 registered for the season. In the fall of 2019, a new indoor season registered 112 participants. The 2021 season registered 186 female athletes with 22 teams and 40 coaches.
CO-OWNERS
Katie DiChiaro grew up in Hastings on Hudson, NY playing sports all of her life. She learned how to play football from her brother but only had the opportunity to play at Recess, tailgates and then Intramurals at the University of Tennessee. Her love for football and other sports are evident in her passion for volunteering and coaching her three daughters, in multiple sports and now playing in the Women’s Flag Football League that Gridiron Partners has created. She believes all female athletes deserve equitable recognition and resources. She believes in developing better opportunities to serve the community in all sports by creating a safe and fun environment to learn fundamental skills, build confidence and create a lifelong love of sports. Katie’s admiration for Jennifer’s tenacity, passion for equality in girls’ sports and her sense of humor are what she enjoys most about working with Jennifer.
Katie is the head coach of the Inaugural Varsity Flag Football Team in Somers this spring at Somers High School, is a Licensed Massage Therapist and lives in Somers, NY with her husband and three daughters.
Jennifer Kisslinger initially grew up in Brooklyn, NY until her high school years when she moved to Long Island, NY. Her drive to be a part of starting a Girls Flag Football league was inspired by her younger daughter who became obsessed with playing football after participating in the Intro to Sports program for Girls. Jennifer was in awe of how Katie was able to connect with these young girls and impact them with her knack for confidence building, coaching and empowerment. Watching Katie with these young girls, directly spoke to Jennifer's mission as a parent. Having two girls, and often feeling constrained that she was denied opportunities as a female, Jennifer was determined to ensure it never crossed her girls’ minds, that they “didn’t belong” somewhere because they were female. That mission evolved into the commitment of ensuring that ALL females have the tools and the confidence to pursue anything they are willing to work for, no matter the arena.
Jennifer works as an Internal Corporate recruiter for a Technology company and lives in Somers with her husband and two daughters.
