By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Flag football’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Games is a chance to bring more girls into the sport, the NFL’s head of flag football Stephanie Kwok told Reuters, as the league looks to take advantage of the Olympic-sized spotlight.
Kwok took the reins in the newly created role in May, working to bring in more players at the grassroots level around the world, as international talent is catching up with the United States.
“This is a new position that shows how committed the NFL is to flag football and I think there’s so much momentum around it,” said Kwok. “It provides such an opportunity for new people to come to the game of football and experience it firsthand.”
While women have comprised roughly half of the NFL’s fan base for years, vastly fewer opportunities exist for girls and women to play traditional gridiron football and no NCAA programs exist for women’s-only tackle football.
Flag football has been popular with women and girls for decades and in recent years more U.S. states have moved to make it an official high school sport. Pennsylvania became the 13th state to sanction the game for high school girls in September.
“It’s so important for girls to have the opportunity to play in high school,” said Kwok, pointing to the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers as being instrumental in driving the sport forward in their state.
“Both of the teams had high school girls’ leagues that really helped high school teams with starting up and they also provided stipends as well for coaching and equipment.”
Flag football was among five sports approved last year for the 2028 Los Angeles Games and prominent stars of the NFL, including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, have already indicated their interest in competing.
It remains unclear whether NFL players will be cleared to compete in the Games, with the NFL in talks with the players’ union after previously throwing their support behind the idea.
Regardless of whether tackle stars take to the Olympic field in four years, Kwok sees the Olympics providing momentum.
Flag football is a stripped-down version of the tackle game and players do not need pricey helmets and pads to play, another positive for parents of boys and girls.
“Even before there was a decision around flag football being in the Olympics, this was already growing so quickly at the grassroots level,” said Kwok.
“For parents who may not have put their sons in tackle, flag football’s an opportunity to play. If you think about internationally how people can experience football, flag football is just so much more accessible.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, additional reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Toby Davis)
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