Belleville West star is first area female to earn college football scholarship

Destini Turner likes the idea of being called a pioneer.

No, she is not the first girl to play flag football in the metro-east and, in fact, was one of 30 Belleville West girls to play the burgeoning sport last summer and fall. But Turner is, in fact, the first girl from the area to have received a college scholarship to play flag football.

Last month, the 17-year-old senior committed to Millikin University in Decatur for a Big Blue inaugural team that will play its first season in 2026-27.

“I feel like I’m paving the way for younger athletes, to let them know not to be so closed-minded. So many of my friends who have congratulated me have said, ‘I didn’t even know you could get a scholarship in flag football,’” Turner said.

Indeed, you can. In 2024, the Illinois High School Association made girls flag football a sanctioned sport, and more and more colleges are starting programs and offering scholarships. According to Belleville West flag football coach Mario Melvin, flag football is the fastest-growing sport in the country for women’s athletics. In 2028, women’s flag football will become an Olympic sport. There is hope it could become a professional sport, with the NFL as a partner.

Melvin, who also coaches track at Belleville West, sounded like a proud papa when describing Turner’s ascent from a program that didn’t exist three years ago to one where her college expenses will be paid by the school to which she will enroll this summer.

“Destini is just such a great young person. She gets great grades (close to 4.0 GPA), she’s so respectful to everyone, and kind. But on the field? She’s a fearsome competitor. She’s very fast and aggressive,” Melvin said. “She played middle linebacker for us, and she was always involved in just about every play. “It has opened up a new avenue for women’s sports, and here at Belleville West, the sky’s the limit for us.”

In the first IHSA-sanctioned season, the only two area flag football teams were at Belleville West and Belleville East. Today, those two schools form a conference along with East St. Louis, Edwardsville, and Mascoutah. The teams play home-and-home, and further out of town and state, at schools in Chicagoland and Missouri. Overall, the Maroons played 14 games last season.

Turner was sitting in her sixth-hour African American History class last Dec. 4, when she got a text from Millikin flag football coach Joan “Coach Cat” Catanese.

“I opened it, and it contained my offer,” Turner said. “I had to step out of class to call my mom (Joetta Mitchell). She was just giving all glory to God and was just so excited. I was just kind of in a daze after that. My relationship with (Catanese) first started on email, and then on the phone, where we had nice conversations. When (Melvin) told me that a recruiter wanted to know more about me and see my film, I was just ecstatic. I was blown away.”

Turner went to Melvin before last season and asked him, “What do I need to do to become the team captain?”’ Melvin responded that it would take a tireless work ethic and discipline to set the example for others. She soon aced that test, becoming the Maroons’ field general.

“I always followed myself. I never followed behind the next person, the next friend, the next peer,” Turner said. “I just believed the captain’s position was made for me, especially with this sport, because I have a lot of love for it.”

There is no tackling in flag football. Defenders must wrest away one of two hip-hugging flags to stop a play. New first downs can only be gained at the opposing 40- and 20-yard lines.

While there are penalties for tackling with two hands, the sport is plenty rough and expected to get rougher as bigger, stronger, faster women compete.

Turner grew up in St. Louis, but moved to Belleville her freshman year. She didn’t play any sports her first two years of high school, making her story one of the more unique in high school-college athletics. The only physical activity she’d done to that point was Caramba dance.

She also plans to compete in shot put and discus for the Maroons this spring. Then, it’s off to a whole new adventure at Millikin, one that, to this point, is uncharted among local female athletes. She’s still in wonderment at how she got here. Along with her mom, she says she’ll always remain grateful to Melvin and Maroons assistant coaches David Searcy, Kelvin Searcy, Regina King, and Karen Chism.

“I try to stay humble, because everything can be taken away at any moment,” she said. “But I’m just very grateful and thankful to be where I am at this moment.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 5:30 AM.