Renewed faith helped RBC flag football star Kat Bauman emulate her big brothers
June 20, 2025 at 7:00 a.m.
Kevin Bauman played tight end for Notre Dame University, South Bend. His brother Alex is currently playing tight end for the University of Miami.
So, it’s pretty impressive when Kevin says of his younger sister that, “She is a beast! Best athlete in the family!”
Kat Bauman, a recent Red Bank Catholic graduate, followed in her brothers’ footsteps of being a standout Caseys receiver. She starred for RBC’s flag football team the past two seasons, catching touchdown passes in 14 of 16 games. That earned her a selection to the 2nd Annual Phil Simms North-South All-Star Girls Football Classic.
And how does it feel to uphold the family tradition?
“It’s the coolest thing ever,” Bauman said. “More than anything in my life I wanted to be like them. That is why I always wanted to play football. I always loved football. When I heard RBC was getting a flag team, it solidified my chance to say that I can do what they do, just in my own world.”
Bauman has built quite a world for herself.
She was also a volleyball standout and earned a 4.54 grade point average, which got her into the University of Florida. She opted for that over Georgia Tech, saying, “I felt [like] I fit in the moment I was on campus.”
A member of the National Honor Society, Kat was active in RBC’s Catholic Athletes for Christ and Fellowship for Christian Athletes organizations. As a junior, she was an ambassador for a hunger walk and organized several charities.
Life is good for Bauman, but it wasn’t always.
Kat Bauman is taken down after making a catch in a Red Bank Catholic flag football game. Contributed photo “I was going through a rough time at the beginning of my junior year; I really needed God in my life,” she said. “When I reached that low point, I realized … how important my faith was. My faith means everything to me. It got me through high school.”
Upon joining Catholic Athletes for Christ as a sophomore, Kat said, “I didn’t understand the reality of what I was doing until last year. I started to involve myself. I would go out of my way to help stock the pantry and help organize the food drives. I’d get people to participate. It really meant something to me.”
As does flag football, which began at RBC last spring. In her first official game at Middletown North – just before leaving for a club volleyball practice – Bauman made a leaping catch over another player at midfield and took it in for a touchdown.
“At that time, I was still getting used to the sport,” she said. “I was still getting used to the mechanics of football, pulling flags, catching footballs. But it was weird because it all felt so natural. That first touchdown pass locked me in for what it was gonna be like for the rest of my flag career.”
She became a touchdown-making machine, much like her brothers who caught a combined 19 TD passes at RBC.
“It’s the last Bauman that I’m gonna coach,” said Mike Lange, who oversees the boys and girls programs. “She carved her own niche and really deserved all the accolades because she really was good. She’s tall and lanky like her brothers. She’s physical.”
Bauman helped the Caseys go from a 3-4 inaugural campaign to 6-3 this past season, when they were seeded fourth in the Shore Conference Tournament. She was at every practice and game, reminding Lange of her siblings.
“Flag is obviously a little different than regular football, but she has similar tight end type traits as her brothers, such as catching the ball in traffic, getting hit, getting bounced all over the place,” Lange said with a laugh. “One game she got collided with and had a knot on her eye and played the whole game.
“Obviously she knows the game better than most high school girls so that helps. She has a good pedigree and she’s uber-intense like her brothers.”
As a little girl, Kat begged her parents to play in the boys flag football league, but to no avail. When her brothers played catch with their dad, she jumped into the fray until they finally threw her a few.
Upon joining RBC’s team, Bauman had a wealth of knowledge to tap into from Tulane and Notre Dame. But she wanted to make it without big brothers’ help.
“I’ve always been really confident in my football knowledge and I’m not one to let people tell me what they know about football,” she said. “I know that I’m very knowledgeable. I just thought ‘I’m playing, no one’s gonna stop me. I don’t need anyone’s advice. This is gonna be all me.’”
It obviously worked out, as witnessed by her selection to the North-South game.
“I was shocked,” she said. “There was really no attention coming for RBC flag football. When Lange told me I was picked I thought he meant it was the Shore Conference. When I realized it was the entire state, I thought this was an honor. I didn’t think I’d ever get this far in flag football.”
She hopes to go even further by playing at Florida. After filling out an interest form for flag football, Bauman immediately heard back from the club’s president.
“I think the flag team is really competitive there,” she said. “I don’t know what my chances are of getting on the team but I think I have a really good shot. I know I’m competitive and I think I know a lot about the sport of football.”
And according to one brother, she’s even better than two Division I players.
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Kevin Bauman played tight end for Notre Dame University, South Bend. His brother Alex is currently playing tight end for the University of Miami.
So, it’s pretty impressive when Kevin says of his younger sister that, “She is a beast! Best athlete in the family!”
Kat Bauman, a recent Red Bank Catholic graduate, followed in her brothers’ footsteps of being a standout Caseys receiver. She starred for RBC’s flag football team the past two seasons, catching touchdown passes in 14 of 16 games. That earned her a selection to the 2nd Annual Phil Simms North-South All-Star Girls Football Classic.
And how does it feel to uphold the family tradition?
“It’s the coolest thing ever,” Bauman said. “More than anything in my life I wanted to be like them. That is why I always wanted to play football. I always loved football. When I heard RBC was getting a flag team, it solidified my chance to say that I can do what they do, just in my own world.”
Bauman has built quite a world for herself.
She was also a volleyball standout and earned a 4.54 grade point average, which got her into the University of Florida. She opted for that over Georgia Tech, saying, “I felt [like] I fit in the moment I was on campus.”
A member of the National Honor Society, Kat was active in RBC’s Catholic Athletes for Christ and Fellowship for Christian Athletes organizations. As a junior, she was an ambassador for a hunger walk and organized several charities.
Life is good for Bauman, but it wasn’t always.
Kat Bauman is taken down after making a catch in a Red Bank Catholic flag football game. Contributed photo “I was going through a rough time at the beginning of my junior year; I really needed God in my life,” she said. “When I reached that low point, I realized … how important my faith was. My faith means everything to me. It got me through high school.”
Upon joining Catholic Athletes for Christ as a sophomore, Kat said, “I didn’t understand the reality of what I was doing until last year. I started to involve myself. I would go out of my way to help stock the pantry and help organize the food drives. I’d get people to participate. It really meant something to me.”
As does flag football, which began at RBC last spring. In her first official game at Middletown North – just before leaving for a club volleyball practice – Bauman made a leaping catch over another player at midfield and took it in for a touchdown.
“At that time, I was still getting used to the sport,” she said. “I was still getting used to the mechanics of football, pulling flags, catching footballs. But it was weird because it all felt so natural. That first touchdown pass locked me in for what it was gonna be like for the rest of my flag career.”
She became a touchdown-making machine, much like her brothers who caught a combined 19 TD passes at RBC.
“It’s the last Bauman that I’m gonna coach,” said Mike Lange, who oversees the boys and girls programs. “She carved her own niche and really deserved all the accolades because she really was good. She’s tall and lanky like her brothers. She’s physical.”
Bauman helped the Caseys go from a 3-4 inaugural campaign to 6-3 this past season, when they were seeded fourth in the Shore Conference Tournament. She was at every practice and game, reminding Lange of her siblings.
“Flag is obviously a little different than regular football, but she has similar tight end type traits as her brothers, such as catching the ball in traffic, getting hit, getting bounced all over the place,” Lange said with a laugh. “One game she got collided with and had a knot on her eye and played the whole game.
“Obviously she knows the game better than most high school girls so that helps. She has a good pedigree and she’s uber-intense like her brothers.”
As a little girl, Kat begged her parents to play in the boys flag football league, but to no avail. When her brothers played catch with their dad, she jumped into the fray until they finally threw her a few.
Upon joining RBC’s team, Bauman had a wealth of knowledge to tap into from Tulane and Notre Dame. But she wanted to make it without big brothers’ help.
“I’ve always been really confident in my football knowledge and I’m not one to let people tell me what they know about football,” she said. “I know that I’m very knowledgeable. I just thought ‘I’m playing, no one’s gonna stop me. I don’t need anyone’s advice. This is gonna be all me.’”
It obviously worked out, as witnessed by her selection to the North-South game.
“I was shocked,” she said. “There was really no attention coming for RBC flag football. When Lange told me I was picked I thought he meant it was the Shore Conference. When I realized it was the entire state, I thought this was an honor. I didn’t think I’d ever get this far in flag football.”
She hopes to go even further by playing at Florida. After filling out an interest form for flag football, Bauman immediately heard back from the club’s president.
“I think the flag team is really competitive there,” she said. “I don’t know what my chances are of getting on the team but I think I have a really good shot. I know I’m competitive and I think I know a lot about the sport of football.”
And according to one brother, she’s even better than two Division I players.
The Church needs quality Catholic journalism now more than ever. Please consider supporting this work by signing up for a SUBSCRIPTION (click HERE) or making a DONATION to The Monitor (click HERE). Thank you for your support.