(Reuters) – The United States men’s and women’s teams won the world flag football championships in Finland on Friday to extend their dominance but other countries are catching up as the fast-growing sport prepares to make its Olympic debut in 2028.
The U.S. men won their fifth straight title and the women their third in a row by beating Austria and Mexico respectively in the finals of the sport’s biggest world championships to date, featuring 54 teams from 30 different countries.
Flag football, a non-contact format of American football played by teams of five, was added to the programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in October last year. American football last featured as a demonstration sport in the 1932 LA Games.
“It’s amazing and not only the number of teams but also the talent and the level of the sport so I was just really proud and super happy to be part of this experience,” Mexico quarterback Diana Flores told Reuters after they lost the final in Lahti.
“I’m super proud of them (teammates), and I know this is just the beginning for us.”
Flores is one of the faces of the game, appearing in a TV commercial showcasing the sport which was aired at halftime during the 2023 Super Bowl, and she is driven by the dream of leading her nation to the Olympics.
“That’s one thing I’m thinking on every day. I wake up, I dream of it and, for sure, it’s a goal,” she said.
“I want to be there to represent my country, having the opportunity to go with my team. And can you imagine bringing home an Olympic medal? That would be amazing.”
The Americans may have invented the sport but flag football has gone global and the simpler more scaled-back nature of the game compared to the tackle football played in the NFL is proving easier for other countries to adapt to.
“One team I have to say I admire is Team Japan, just the way they have grown in the past year. The way they played, it was amazing, they are super fast, they are super smart, and I know they’re going to keep just growing from there,” Flores said.
Japan reached the semi-finals where they lost to Mexico.
TREMENDOUS GROWTH
Played on a pitch measuring 70×25 yards, there is no blocking, kicking or tackling in flag football.
Each down ends either when a player goes out of bounds with the ball or a defender removes the flag, which is worn on a belt around the waist, from the ball carrier.
“Globally, since long before the Olympic inclusion and the beginning of this great adventure, the growth of the game has been tremendous,” Pierre Trochet, president of the International Federation Of American Football (IFAF) told Reuters.
“And in the light of Los Angeles, it definitely highlights all of those efforts that all of the 74 nations (in the IFAF) have been doing for years in the domestic countries.”
The IFAF estimates that over 20 million people in more than 100 countries play the game and it continues to grow.
“The huge growth we had was definitely on the women’s side of it – some girls have been denied (the chance) to play, or they didn’t have the opportunity to play tackle football, they could never be a professional,” Trochet explained.
“(But) there is a new ambition for little girls, being like, ‘I want to be Diana Flores, I want to be one of those global flag ambassadors. I can play the game. I can be on the big stage and one day I could be an Olympian’ – that’s definitely creating a huge new appeal to an entire new target audience,” he added.
However, any woman looking to make a name for herself in the game will likely have to help her team overcome the Americans if they want to win Olympic gold in Los Angeles.
“It’s a dream come true to possibly play in the Olympics and keep fighting for the roster spot and keep representing the red, white and blue,” U.S. quarterback Vanita Crouch said.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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