The new kids in the huddle
It鈥檚 football season in America, and the girls are taking the field.
They鈥檙e playing flag football, that is, a version of the game played without pads or helmets, and with far less physical contact. It is now one of the fastest-growing sports for girls, sweeping into school athletics programs across the country. It may soon become a Division 1 college sport.
One stat tells it all: The number of girls ages 6 to 17 playing the game doubled during just the last school year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
That growth represents a dramatic turn toward inclusivity in a game that traditionally left girls on the bleachers or on the cheerleading squad. And it brings another benefit: Roughly half of the girls who now play 鈥渇lag,鈥� as it is known, were not previously involved in school athletics.
While flag football doesn鈥檛 come with the same physical strength as the contact version, it does add to the range of sports for girls that can boost their confidence and demonstrate the sport ability to nurture character.
鈥淭he football field becomes a classroom for empowerment,鈥� wrote Illiett Ojeda in a blog post for an organization called Miami Mom Collective. 鈥淟et鈥檚 pause for a moment and imagine our girls weaving through defenders, strategizing, and scoring those winning points. They鈥檙e ... breaking barriers, shattering stereotypes, and showcasing their capacity to excel in any arena.鈥�
The game is spreading globally, too. More than 100 countries have organized leagues, according to the International Federation of American Football. Many of them are coed. In 2028, it will make its debut in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
In this version of football, players wear belts with a strip 鈥� or flag 鈥� on each hip. The one with the ball is 鈥渢ackled鈥� when an opposing player pulls off one of the ball carrier鈥檚 flags. The game has given fathers new ways to connect with their daughters, especially if they are a coach in the sport 鈥� as Drew Brees, a former New Orleans Saints quarterback, is for his daughter鈥檚 team.
At a time when female athletes like gymnast Simone Biles and professional basketball player Caitlin Clark are drawing historic crowds in women鈥檚 sports, flag football is teaching young players new lessons about equality. That鈥檚 because this style of play relies less on physical strength and more on mental agility, selfless teamwork, and communication.
鈥淭his is the only sport they can truly compete against the boys,鈥� Dallas Sartz, a girls flag football coach in California, told Gold Country Media. Last year, his team of 10-year-old girls stepped 鈥渙ut of their comfort zone鈥� and beat a squad of boys. The result, he said, was a new sense of camaraderie among the players on both teams.
Sports in general are a 鈥渏oyful means of awakening,鈥� wrote author Therese Miller in a 2008 Sports Journal article. It also enlightens the 鈥渋magination to robust possibilities and convincing realities.鈥� Across a growing number of athletic fields, an artful version of a rough-and-tumble game is widening views for girls as well as for boys.
