Tuffy for the Touchdown: Flag Football

Flag football is currently one of the fastest growing sports among all ages and genders across the world. The IFAF (International Federation of American Football) expects flag football to surpass tackle football in worldwide participation by the end of this year. There are hundreds of youth teams across the country, and dozens in the Bay Area alone. Kids are able to join teams from as early as five years old. Because of the massive growth around the world, The Olympic Committee announced it will debut as an Olympic sport for the next summer Olympics. 

This October, The International Olympic Committee announced flag football’s addition to the 2028 Summer Olympics, in Los Angeles. Men, women, and paralympic players will all compete. While flag football may seem very out of the norm from other Olympic sports such as  swimming and gymnastics, the Olympic Committee has recently made an effort to expand their selection. 

With flag football’s growing participation, this gives players and fans something to strive for and look forward to. The event may be pretty exciting, especially because the NFL has o

penly encouraged players to participate. NFL stars, such as Patrick Mahomes, and Tyreek Hill, have both already expressed interest in playing. However, If the U.S. team is entirely filled with NFL stars, viewers may be in for a very lopsided tournament. 

At the same time flag football is making headlines on the international level, it is also quickly becoming more, and more popular in school. Last year, The School added flag football to the middle school, and it may be coming to the highschool in the next few years. 

Brendan Blakeley, the athletic director of The School, gives the most likely scenario that would lead to a men’s flag football team being added: “If and when we end up moving men’s soccer out of the fall and into the winter, which at this point feels inevitable, but I just don’t know when. Could be two years to four years. Then we would look at adding flag football for men in the fall.” 

The School would most likely join a “club league” of similar sized schools, which are mostly based in San Francisco. Blakley said he is “very convinced” that The School could put together at least one men’s flag football team. As for a women’s team, Blakely thinks there is less interest from kids, and is not sure The School can field a full team.

Flag football is likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future. Popularity has only gone up in the past couple years, and there is no reason for that to stop, especially with it becoming more popular in schools. The sport’s inclusion in the Olympics will also allow thousands of new viewers to learn about the sport and possibly take a liking for it.