The Orange Empire Conference most valuable player, champion and former CIF High School star Maia Helmar has signed with NCAA Division I Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
She is the third student-athlete from the Irvine Valley women's flag football to commit or sign.
Helmar, a freshman, was a standout on both offense as a receiver and on defense as a defensive back for the Lasers.
Out of Newport Harbor High, Hemar helped lead IVC to a share of the Orange Empire Conference regular title with Cypresss and then the Lasers rallied, came back and defeated Cypress, 32-27, in the final minutes to capture the first conference tournament title.
IVC finished with a record of 15-4 overall and was ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation.
Helmar has played with Conquer SoCal and is now headed to a Cal Poly team that is the first varsity D1 school in the west coast.
Longtime tackle and flag football coach Rod Sherman is set to lead the school's inaugural women's flag football program for the Mustangs.
Sherman brings extensive championship experience at both the tackle and flag football levels.
Most recently, he served five seasons as head tackle football coach at Orange Lutheran High School, guiding the program to a CIF Southern Section Division II Championship while competing in one of California's premier high school leagues.
