With The World Games confirming that women’s flag will be on the program in Chengdu 2025, we ask the question: why play Flag Football?
The answer is simple: It’s fast and exciting and flag is the most inclusive and accessible format of American football played by people of all ages and genders.
That’s a standard definition of the appeal of flag football, but what attracts the elite athletes who play the sport at the international level? What got them hooked in the first place and drives them on in pursuit of gold medals and championships? IFAF asked five participants at this summer’s Americas and European continental tournaments what it is about flag football that appeals to them and should draw in the next generation of athletes.
“If you love American football, flag football gives you the chance to play, no matter who you are,” says Flavio Piccinni, a veteran of Italy’s successful men’s national teams in both flag and tackle football. “It is a fast-paced, strategic and dynamic sport that takes some of tackle football’s best elements but makes it available to anyone.
“You need less people, less equipment, less time and money to play. Since it is a non-contact sport, it’s also very inclusive for every kind of person, including those who love American football but don’t want its most physical aspects.”
Switzerland’s women’s quarterback Seraina Kraeft, who is a former bobsledder and ice hockey player, says: “In flag there is a lot more passing, so I had to improve my throwing skills very quickly. You learn the same skills, but it doesn’t “hurt” because as a quarterback, you can take time to read the play and the worst thing that can happen is, that someone pulls your flag. You don’t get hit!
“Now I tell people to try this sport because it’s so much fun. It’s a perfect mix of running, catching, defending and so forth. And age doesn’t matter in this sport.”
Brittany Botterill is the quarterback of the Great Britain women’s team that won a gold medal at the IFAF European Flag Football Championships in Limerick, Ireland, in August.
“For a start there’s the element that anyone can play flag football,” she says. “I’m not the tallest person, I’m not the strongest, but I do try and really study the analytical and strategic side of things so I can then perform at my position to help my team win.
“I also think that it’s that perfect combination of a team battle with individual battles happening at the same time. As a quarterback, you have to be on the same page as your receivers and you have to know they trust the timing of your pass, so you’re in your own individual battle right there. Then the receiver is trying to beat their defender, so they've got their own battle going. I’m also trying to evade the rusher and read the defense and deliver a catchable ball and so it’s like this perfect combination of an individual competition that ties into a team competition.”
Hugo Bagate, head coach of the Slovakia men’s national team that debuted in Ireland, played tackle football in his native France and created his own team and league in his adopted nation.
“You can play from young age to as old as you like, so you bring people together,” he explains. “It’s a really dynamic sport and you can have mixed teams, so we six or seven women that are playing with us on our club teams. Everybody can play, everybody can find their place.
“If you come from the tackle game to play flag, you have many of the position skills that you can transfer over, say as a receiver, to run a proper route, or as a defender to know how to cover receivers.”
Deborah Casanova, a wide receiver with the Switzerland women’s national team, has been a successful athlete in track and field and boxing.
“Just do it!” she advises anyone considering taking up flag football. “I was not a team sports athlete before, but trust me, now I’d take my team and playing a team sport anytime over being a single athlete. Flag football is a dynamic, speedy sport. But I do have some words of caution: you’ll get addicted to it very quickly!”
Kelly Dwyer made history in Limerick as Ireland’s women competed in a flag football tournament on the international stage for the first time.
“I love the mental side, I love that it’s kind of like you’re playing a game of chess out there and I love that there’s always something new to learn about the sport every time,” she says. “Every time you think you have it figured out; you learn something new.”
When Kelly heard that Ireland was to host IFAF’s European continental championship she was relatively new to flag football competitively, so set about making the roster.
“Really for me the motivation was the feeling of doing everything that was needed to get into this competition and by that, I mean not only my own training and being ready, but seeking out coaches and extra insight from people who know far more.
“We didn’t have enough women in the country playing the sport, so I created tournaments where there were female quotas so that like teams would go and there would be an incentive for them to recruit women into the sport. To top it off, I found it’s just fun, like it’s a super-fun sport.”
So, there you have it. What more motivation do you need? Get out there and play flag football!
Photo Ian Humes
