Inside the NFL’s plan to ensure flag football is an Olympic sport in 2032 and beyond

The NFL is doing everything in its power to ensure flag football’s inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is the beginning of a long-running tradition, rather than a one-off flash in the pan. This is how Australia fits into its plan to make it happen.

The NFL is doing everything in its power to ensure flag football’s inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is the beginning of a long-running tradition, rather than a one-off flash in the pan.

That the sport is taking over in primary school’s around the country is no convenient coincidence, rather the result of years of a concise planning with one clear aim in mind: flag football’s inclusion at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

“We have a massive vision to ensure that (flag football) stays (at the Olympics) until 2032, so the work that we’re doing now is how do we grow that participation to the next level,” said general manager of NFL Australia and New Zealand Charlotte Offord.

The NFL’s flag football program targeting has been a major hit in primary schools since it was trialled two years ago, and its no doubt aided by the lure that the national champions for the 10-12 year-old competition (year five and six students) win a trip to Orlando, Florida, to compete at the world championships.

“The whole program as a whole just provides a completely new and different sporting opportunity for young athletes,” Offord said.

“We established a pilot program two years ago to understand the landscape and how it worked and we saw a huge uplift in interest and in kids wanting to play.

Kidman Park NFL Teams Archie Ferris goes for a touch down chased by Paige Schroeder, Ky Morata, Charlie Castro-Winner and Hayden Ashfield, at Kidman Park Primary school before the head off to represent SA in the nationals. Wednesday, October, 30,2024. Picture Mark Brake

“The fact that we provide a curriculum to teachers, it’s play by play, we coach and train the teachers and provide them with a curriculum that’s laid out for six weeks to learn the game.

“What we try and create is a really fun environment with a sport that provides lots of different positions for any sporting ability … the versatility of the sport is helping, and a trip on top to go to Florida and represent your country is also helping.”

The pilot primary school program launched across just 10 schools in 2022, and within 10 months had expanded to 84 in every state and territory.

19,500 kids were playing flag football last year, and its hoped that by March next year that figure can balloon to 100,000, and over 500,000 by the beginning of 2027.

Offord said that the NFL was now working with American football Australia, the sport’s governing body down under, which would continue to amplify the program.

“This market is already a very highly competitive sporting country. adding a new sport to the mix is never going to be easy when there is kids playing multiple sports from a young age,” Offord said.

Varsity College celebrating last year’s flag football under-12 national championship. A new national champion is set to be crowned on the Gold Coast on Friday. Picture: Supplied.

“We wanted to bring in a new sport, we knew it was an exciting game to play, the global scale of the NFL, we wanted to bring something really exciting in terms of how do we give these kids a pathway.

“You could play flag and you might be athletic enough to go to the NFL Academy which is also on the Gold Coast, you might then get a scholarship into a US College and that might be your pathway and hopefully one day you make it into the NFL.

“Or you might play flag and you could go onto to play for your national team at the Olympic Games, and that creates a pathway for boys and girls at the highest level. What we’re trying to do is use our sport at the grassroots level to establish these future pathways for young athletes.

“We have a massive vision to ensure that stays until 2032 so the work that we’re doing now is really pouring into how do we grow that participation into a new level to ensure we’re in the Olympic Games through Brisbane and into the future.”

To ensure that this primary school boom isn’t wasted, the NFL has already begun its high school program here, which will see an under-15 competition played in the same format as the under-12s, with a trip to Ohio on the line for the national champions.

“In the future the goal is to grow the sport to the next level,” Offord said.

“Where kids that are playing the game now will have the opportunity to go to an Olympic games.”

Originally published as Inside the NFL’s plan to ensure flag football is an Olympic sport in 2032 and beyond