Starting on February 1, the National Football League hosted the NFL FLAG Championships. NFL FLAG is the NFL’s official flag football youth league. With a team in every state for kids aged 4-17, there are over 1,600 teams that make up the league. The goal of NFL FLAG is to provide an environment for boys and girls to play football and learn the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, and friendship.
After teams competed all weekend at the University of Central Florida on the intramural fields, the 14u boys and 17u girls divisions played their championships at Camping World Stadium leading up to the NFL Pro Bowl Games.
I attended the FLAG championships at UCF as well as the Pro Bowl Games and spoke with FLAG players, NFL cheerleaders, and FLAG partners about the importance of female representation in sports and the growing support for females in flag football.
I first spoke with Allison Gandlin, the 17u girls division Player of the Year. Allison plays for the Staten Island Giants, who represent the New York Jets FLAG team. Allison began playing because there was already a large flag football presence in Staten Island. She is currently working towards her goal of playing flag football in the 2028 Summer Olympics. To her, there is no other sport where you feel as confident. She said the swagger of flag football is what separates it from any other sport. She is excited to see the growth of flag football in the future, and also talked about her personal goal of being a coach for a girl’s FLAG because she wants the opportunity to grow with her players and be a role model to young girls who are just starting their sports career.
The FLAG Championships had their partner organizations set up on-site by the fields. Their partner Play Like A Girl, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls through sports and STEM education, had a tent set up all weekend. Their station included free merchandise, a selfie station, and a braid bar for female athletes and their families to get their hair styled.
I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Kimberly Clay, founder and CEO of Play Like A Girl!, to learn more about the organization’s values and purpose. Play Like A Girl! was started as a doctoral project focusing on the health benefits of sports, but evolved to also connect STEM education into their mission. They believe that if young girls are empowered to play on the field and sharpen their STEM skills off the field, they will have the confidence and transferable skills to enter into these predominantly male fields in the future.
They currently have 7 college chapters across the country, and travel nationwide hosting events to promote their mission. The organization facilitates scholarships, internships, tours of STEM and corporate facilities, and hands-on STEM learning. Team building is a crucial part of the activities that girls in their program take part in. A team-building activity could be packing healthy snacks for athletes to eat during sports practice or packing STEM kits, which have the tools young girls need for their science and math classes. Play Like A Girl! provides girls within their program with female role models and matches girls with mentors to build relationships early in their middle school years. Some of the first girls in the program have now returned to mentor the next generation of girls and can give back and provide the same support system that allowed them to reach their current success in the professional world.
NFL FLAG is one of the many professional sports partnerships Play Like A Girl! has. Dr. Kim spoke about how her biggest critique is the use of the word “female” in football. “Women are more than a tagline, and you do not have to give up your femininity to play football. You do not have to diminish who you are to play a sport, and this is a moment where the girls are cherished, supported, and celebrated” said Dr. Kim. “The greatest compliment you can give is ‘play like a girl’” she added.
“You do not have to give up your femininity to play football. You do not have to diminish who you are to play a sport”
-Dr. Kimberly Clay, Founder and CEO of Play Like a Girl!
I was able to see firsthand how Play Like A Girl! was able to touch the female athletes after talking with 10-year-old athlete Payton, who was getting her hair braided. I asked Payton what her favorite part of playing flag football was. “It shows that we can do anything, girls can play football too” she answered.
I next was able to speak with members of the Pro Bowl NFL cheerleaders. NFL teams selected one cheerleader to send to the Pro Bowl week, and they were on-site mingling with fans. Athletes and their families were excited to meet the cheerleaders, get their posters signed, and show them their best moves. Atlanta Falcons cheerleader Celia discussed how being an NFL cheerleader has taught her transferable skills of being disciplined and staying organized while also creating a space where she is empowered and feels confident. Celia is also an MSN, RN Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, and talked about how many of the NFL cheerleaders are also creating positive changes off the field in their other roles. Las Vegas Raiders cheerleader Maddie discussed how rewarding Pro Bowl week had been, and how even though she had only just met the other cheerleaders, she felt that she had been practicing with them for weeks due to the incredible supportive culture that had been created.
All of the cheerleaders were so warm and eager to interact with fans, especially young girls. You could see the excitement from the smiles on the girl’s faces, and girls that did gymnastics, cheerleading, and dance were excited to ask them about cheering at the professional level for the NFL.
On the second day of the games, Oakley hosted a panel titled “Moving the Game Forward: A Celebration of Re-writing the Playbook”. One of the guests was the captain and quarterback of the Mexico National Flag Football team, Diana Flores. Diana spoke about the importance of representation in FLAG and her hopes for the future. As the game continues to grow, Diana is excited about young athletes being able to see professional players that look like them excelling in the sport. Additionally, Diana expressed her excitement for the inclusion of flag football for the first time in the future 2028 Summer Olympics.
Before attending the championships, I only had a basic understanding of FLAG and the impact that the sport has. I was familiar with the league because I remembered kids being highlighted during the Super Bowl, but I didn’t realize how exponentially the game is growing. Flag football will officially be an Olympic sport in the 2028 games. Flag football recently became a sanctioned college sport in the NAIA, which allows young girls the opportunity to get scholarships and continue to play the sport they love. FLAG is making football accessible to girls and is creating an opportunity for them to have a space to practice teamwork and play a sport they are passionate about. I am so inspired by all of the amazing people I had the chance to meet throughout the championships and can’t wait to see how these young female athletes continue to grow the sport and create a lasting impact on the world of sports. The future is indeed female, and the future is also flag football.