The contrast seems to be big: one year ago flag football finds itself at the colossal Legion Field, home of the college football team of the University of Alabama, at the World Games. It was the first time the sport got into a big multi-sport event. One year later, another university is hosting a flag football event. The European Championships are at the grounds of the University of Limerick, Ireland. No huge stadium this time, just large fields of grass. It may look less impressive to some, but for flag football the only way is up.
Flag football is the non-contact variant of American tackle football. You won’t see any helmets or shoulder pads. In flag football it’s not the purpose to bring a man (or woman!) down with a block or a tackle. In stead a flag needs to be pulled from the belt, where it hangs on each side of the waist. When a player succeeds, the game stops and the offense needs to conquer yards again, just like tackle football. The sport is fast and is played in a five against five format on a small pitch (70 yards long, 30 yards wide).
Olympic Games
Some might know flag football, playing it at school, but in recent years the sport has a growing community and it has it’s eyes on the Olympic Games for quite a while now. Flag football is still in the running, together with eight other sports, to be added to the LA2028 program. “It would be a great outcome of all the work we put into it in recent years, together with all the governing bodies and the NFL, but it’s not in our hands anymore”, says IFAF-president Pierre Trochet. The French former offensive lineman emphasizes the rise of flag football is not being damaged if the Olympic dream doesn’t come true. “It’s not a one and done kind of thing, it’s not isolated to being at one or two tournaments. We want better competition, we want kids worldwide to dream of a career in football. Kids from Finland to South Africa and from Vancouver to Manila. That is plan A: developing the story.”
That story has a couple of unique selling points. Less major injuries is definitely one of them. In tackle football, neck injuries and brain damage are a massive problem. Flag football is a relatively safe sport where blows to the head doesn’t exist. The second one is that flag football is an inclusive sport. “Our growth is women driven”, says Trochet. “If you are girl who wants to play football, this entire new pathway is opening up. In fact: the Italian Nausicaa Dell’Orto played flag football in the United States. That’s amazing: women can be a student playing the sport they want, not the sport we made them choose.”
Diana Flores
One of the biggest stars of flag football is Diana Flores, a 26 years old Mexican quarterback. At the World Games 2022 the Mexico of Flores defeated the United States in the final. All the young girls playing flag football want to be Diana Flores. Because of the cooperation with the NFL, millions of people got to see Flores and flag football. Moments after the half time show of Rihanna at the Super Bowl LVIIII and in the middle of the stardom of Pat Mahomes, the commercial ‘Run with it’ was aired. In it: Diana Flores. “That was amazing!”, says Trochet. “So many people learned about flag football and it’s growth by that. Everything the NFL promised to do one year ago, they have done. They are the biggest sports league out there, so we are really happy with their back up. We also had 50.000 people watching the flag football games at the Pro Bowl.”
Flag football seems to be a sport that fits directly into the likes and needs of the next generation. Trochet is drawn by it. “Generation Z is consuming sport in a different way. Flag football fits in their daily routine. It’s a fast paced sport, one game is two times twenty minutes and it is easy to play with a couple of friends.”
Georgia
In Limerick 33 teams are present at the biggest European championships ever, some of them competing for the first time. It’s not about winning for each team, it’s about participating. “The Georgian team thanked me that they can join this tournament, but it’s the other way around”, Trochet says. “I should thank them for making the trip and coming to Ireland. I’m very happy to see that members are developing the sport. The playbook is working. As a governing body we try to give our members the tools and resources to imply all that in their countries. That’s why we keep moving forward as one, which is what our game is all about. The next step is the qualifying tournament for the World Championship in Asia and Oceania with teams from India, the Philippines, New Zealand. I would have never thought the sport has a global competitive format played by so many people world wide in such a short time.”