Youth flag football goes big league

During halftime at a recent preseason football game between the National Football League’s (NFL) Washington Commanders and Cincinnati Bengals, four youth flag football teams took the field to scrimmage.

The halftime exhibition featured secondary school teenagers from nearby Montgomery County, Maryland. When the Paint Branch High School team walked the same tunnel that the Commanders erupt from to take the field at home games, the teenagers’ faces lit up. “There was a lot of excitement,” says their coach, Greg Jolles. While his players were nervous, “once they stepped on the field to play, it all went away.” (The Paint Branch team played well, Jolles reports, and made their school proud.)

American football’s tackle-free version — flag football — is winning over young athletes like these. What’s more, all 32 NFL teams are encouraging them by promoting flag football as the 2028 Olympics approach.

“It felt surreal, like I was playing in a video game,” says Paint Branch senior Cienna Raphael, who plays the wide receiver position. Playing on the Commanders’ home turf, she says, helped her realize there could be a higher level to the sport, one that she says she wants to reach.

The other teams represented Walter Johnson High School, Wheaton High School and Seneca Valley High School.

Professional moves

To scrimmage in an NFL stadium is “an unreal experience,” says Paint Branch’s quarterback, Madison Flowers, also a senior. “It was an emotional high that showed me where I want to be on November 8: playing in the state championship.”

The Paint Branch girls’ team is a relatively new program, having launched in 2024.

Its participants joined an exploding group of amateur players. Today, 20 million people play the game in more than 100 countries.

“My favorite part about flag football is that it’s a growing sport, and I continue to grow with it and get better each day with an amazing team,” says Flowers, who comes from a family of football fans and now excels at the sport that she grew up watching.

In the U.S., NFL teams are boosting interest by supporting local programs. For example, the Commanders are contributing more than $1 million over 2 years to help 127 girls’ teams in the Washington area.

In addition, the team provides each local program with 25 custom uniforms and an NFL kit that includes 50 flags, 10 footballs and instructional materials.

Because flag football is contact-free, it rewards speed and dexterity, without the risk of serious injury. Raphael likes lots of sports but says, “with flag, it is different. What I enjoy most is the adrenaline I get when the ball reaches my hands and hearing the whistle from the referee signaling a touchdown.”

The 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics will feature men’s and women’s flag football teams, and these Maryland teenagers will be paying close attention.