Emily Brown is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Saguaro High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – For Saguaro senior Delynda Thorne, game day plays and Sunday night dinners are called by the same head coach, her father Greg Thorne. 

The senior and her father, head coach Greg Thorne, have tried to form the core of leadership for the Saguaro flag football team. 

“I’ve always loved it,” Delynda Thorne said. “It’s so much fun having my dad as my coach.” 

The two have worked together since Delynda was on the soccer team in first grade. Greg Thorne has also coached his daughter in soccer, baseball and track. 

“We’ve learned as she’s gotten older,” Greg Thorne said. “I know when to talk with her and when not to talk with her.”

The coach said having other people mentor his daughter also helps him, as the two of them think similarly, and they both welcome other perspectives.  

“Sometimes, it can be a little rough, but it’s always more fun to have him as a coach than to not,” Delynda Thorne said.  

The coach said the pair has navigated being “too similar,” which causes them to butt heads, according to Greg Thorne.   

Delynda Thorne’s game improves when her dad is being hard on her, and it makes the team better as a whole, according to wide receiver Kendra Kirkendall. 

“I see how close they are and how much he cares about her,” Kirkendall said. “It’s just like how he cares about every one of us on the team.”  

The team has not had problems with its quarterback getting the spotlight. According to Kirkendall, coach Greg Thorne recognizes them all one way or another. 

“I don’t feel like there is any favoritism at all,” Kirkendall said. “When I first joined I thought it might be, but he is totally not like that.” 

The tag-team positively influences others off the field, too, according to teammate and wide receiver Melia Ikei, who said they convinced her to play flag football in the first place. 

After moving to Arizona from Hawaii with the Thornes, Ikei’s father started coaching a flag football team with Greg Thorne. She has been close friends with Delynda Thorne for over almost 10 years since then. 

“I know they have good morals, that they’re kind people,” Ikei said. “Anytime I need help with anything, they are there for me.” 

Ikei said the entire team benefits greatly from being around the pair during practice, even when Delynda Thorne disagrees with her father about the effectiveness of a certain play.  She said having two different views come together is what made the team dynamic so lively this year. 

“As a coach, he sees her not only as a daughter but as a player,” Ikei said. 

As of now, Delynda Thorne has 211 completions, 2,066 yards and 21 touchdowns under her belt in her flag football career.. 

During the track season she was ranked No. 17 in Arizona for shot put and won the Scottsdale Unified School District championship with a distance of 35 feet, 11 inches. 

Even though Delynda is in her last year of high school, the Thornes said they will continue to work together as long as they can. 

“What they have is truly amazing, and it’s so awesome,” Kirkendall said. “I am truly happy that they get to do that.”