Within the wake of the Flag Championships held in July, the NFL and the Arizona Cardinals have introduced the subsequent in rising flag soccer.
The Cardinals, its stadium sponsor State Farm, and tv station Arizona’s Household introduced a partnership to provide and air a highschool women flag soccer recreation of the week for eight weeks through the season, they mentioned in a press launch Friday.
The video games will air on Arizona’s Household Sports starting on Sept. 17 for the Hamilton Excessive College (Chandler, Ariz.) recreation in opposition to Xavier Faculty Prep (Phoenix). All video games will happen on Tuesday or Thursday nights by means of Nov. 7.
“We firmly believe that local sports act as the connective tissue of a community,” mentioned Arizona’s Household VP and GM Debbie Bush in an announcement. “This opportunity allows us to shine a light on young women across Arizona who are truly trailblazers in the sport of flag football while inspiring a new generation of young girls to believe that they can play too.”
It is a continuation of flag soccer progress in Arizona. The state is considered one of 11 to supply women flag as a sanctioned highschool sport; final season, 57 women participated. Greater than 100 faculties can be providing the game this 12 months, in keeping with the press launch.
The Arizona Cardinals host an NFL Flag Faculty Showcase for native women flag soccer gamers on Saturday, Mar 16, 2024 at State Farm Stadium. Picture: Cardinals
The Cardinals run camps and applications across the state and established a two-year partnership with Optimistic Teaching Alliance whereas pledging $70,000 to assist women’ flag soccer in efforts to deal with gender inequity in youth sports activities. In 2022 and 2023, the Cardinals hosted a Recreation of the Week, with flag soccer video games performed at State Farm Stadium throughout halftime.
This season can be an growth from one recreation per season to eight.
“The growth of flag football has been explosive not only in our state and our country but worldwide,” Cardinals proprietor Michael Bidwill mentioned in an announcement. “As an organization, we are proud to help grow the interest even more and shine a spotlight on those competing at such a high level in our own community.”
The NFL is prioritizing efforts to ramp up flag soccer participation forward of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, throughout which the game can be performed on the Video games for the primary time. In July, the league hosted 2,800 athletes at Corridor of Fame Village for the NFL Flag Championships, a match during which every crew was represented by its NFL counterpart from its hometown.
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III, an announcer for some ESPN broadcasts through the match, mentioned in an interview with USA TODAY Excessive College Sports that the efforts of the league and broadcast companions lately give it an opportunity to develop each flag and conventional soccer.
“Now the NFL and ESPN have poured so many resources into it, I undoubtedly believe there’s going to be a flag football professional league here soon as we gear up for the 2028 Olympics. And that makes it a much more inclusive sport,” Griffin mentioned. “It grows the actual game of American football and makes it to where it becomes global.”
