On a sunny day in East Los Angeles, you might notice groups of girls sporting brightly colored flags and running around a field playing an unfamiliar sport. It’s called flag football, a low-contact version of the more popular game that has been gaining popularity on the Eastside.
It’s not just a local phenomenon. Last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the inclusion of flag football in the lineup for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The new sport was added to reflect the growing popularity of gender-neutral sports.
Locally, this interest has translated into an influx of high school girls’ teams across the city.
Within the 2023-2024 school year, seven local high schools have implemented the sport into their athletics department.
Mendez High School was one of the many schools in the CIF Los Angeles Eastern League to implement flag football into their athletic roster this year.
“At our first home game, it was packed with people, which is surprising because a lot of people don’t attend sports, especially when it comes to girls’ sports,” says Shaila Colin, a junior at Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez High School.
The rather small school in Boyle Heights gained notoriety when its girls’ flag football team won 14-0 and advanced to the Los Angeles City CIF playoffs.
Bell High School ended the season with an 11-2 Eastern League score. The two East LA Football classic schools, Garfield and Roosevelt, maintained close races throughout the season, ending in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
One reason flag football has gained popularity is that it is a more accessible and inclusive version of traditional American football. It requires less equipment and minimizes physical contact and injury.
The NFL has also created youth campaigns to promote the sport in East Los Angeles. As part of the Blue Chip Youth Sports program, the NFL promotes youth engagement.
Juan Carreon, Regional Director at NFL Flag East LA, said flag football is a stepping stool for local youth to become involved in sports.
“We try our best to get any kid who’s looking to play, regardless of financial status. We understand that can be an issue sometimes. We provide them with opportunities and make sure that every child with a desire to participate gets that opportunity without prior experience, athletic ability, size, gender, or race,” says Carreon.
The NFL League in East LA has seen an increasing number of sign-ups ever since the CIF approved flag football for girls in high school. These new recruits have all been working towards what they call their “Girls Empowerment Movements.”
I feel like flag football offers that opportunity to them,” says Carreon. “Avoiding [physical] contact, developing that relationship and passion for the sport, building friendships, and then it really shows the new young athletes that you know, they can do it.”
Residents are embracing the new sport in a city where football follows years of tradition and history, so much so that the Los Angeles Rams and Nike supported the newly implemented East LA Flag Football Classic.
On multiple occasions, local teams like the Rams and Chargers have collaborated with national leagues and hosted events highlighting women in football.
Just last year, the Rams and USA Football partnered together to hold a flag football talent identification camp for a national team. The Chargers also partnered with Oakley, the athletic sunglasses company, for an Inaugural Girls’ Flag Invitational, where local teams compete against one another.
“LA is such a great city. With the Rams coming back to LA and the Chargers coming to LA, I feel like it’s really developing football culture in LA. [Flag football] is giving these kids that opportunity to follow an NFL team, get involved at a league nearby, start football as young as four years old, and develop that love for the sport,” says Carreon.
Approximately 20 million people worldwide are playing flag football in more than 100 countries, according to the NFL. This year, the IFAF will host the 2024 World Flag Football Championships in Finland, where 65 countries will be represented globally.
According to the International Olympic Committee, adding flag football aims to tap into the enthusiasm of a younger generation, attract a broader demographic, and bring a fresh and dynamic element to the traditional Olympic program.
Garland Cooper, Chief Operations Officer at National Flag Football, said adding the sport into the LA28 Olympics is exciting for the community. “Flag football is expanding more rapidly than ever before. Future athletes now have a path to play the game they love from age 5 to the world’s biggest sporting stage at the Olympics. Creating this lifelong pipeline will provide incredible opportunities for future youth athletes to follow their dreams.”
Colin said she’s excited about the sport’s future plans in East LA and what it will look like next season for Mendez High School. “I know a lot of schools are going to be offering it next year, which is exciting because the schools that are usually in our league for other sports weren’t in it this year. Being able to win the league versus these bigger schools will be really fun for us.”
