Isaac Lindsay makes a catch at the 2024 Ontario Summer Games in London, Ont.DawkSports
More than 20 years ago, Tanya Bezzant of Whitby, Ont., picked up a football and a nickname: Flutie. Soon, she was wheeling around the field like former CFL and NFL quarterback Doug Flutie. Bezzant had caught the flag football bug and played in several tournaments.
Now, Bezzant is flying the flag for the sport as director of operations for the Toronto Flag Football League. The rep and recreational league has just added four- and five-year-olds to the program, thanks to growing demand.
“It’s a game that everybody can play,” she says.
The number of girls who’ve taken up the sport is a big part of what’s driving participation levels in flag football.NFL
More people are playing than ever. Flag football has over 20 million participants in 100 countries, and will debut as a medal sport at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Some NFL players have mused about taking part.
As in tackle football, the goal is to advance up the field and past defenders to score. There’s no equipment to weigh a player down, just a belt with flags, tied around the waist. A pulled flag stops the play. The game is typically played five-on-five, but there are variations. The field is also shorter than a standard football field.
“It really is the most accessible and inclusive version of the sport,” says Sarah Bishop, VP of global brand at the NFL.
She says youth participation rose 12 per cent last year, driven by girls aged 6-17. NFL FLAG is the largest youth flag football association in the U.S., and over the next three years has a goal of 250 flag leagues in Canada and more than 100,000 youth flag football participants.
The NFL is also exploring men’s and women’s professional flag football teams. Tennis legend Serena Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit, have submitted a bid as potential investors.
“Three years ago when I started at the NFL, work on flag football was happening at a grassroots level. It’s incredible to see that all these things we’ve been working on have really taken off and are now part of the public consciousness,” says Bishop.
Bezzant loves that the pathway for female players has also expanded, recreationally and in schools at all levels. “It’s not just tackle football for the boys any more. It’s finally opening up,” she says.
Isaac Lindsay gets ready to explode off the line.DawkSports
High school flag player Isaac Lindsay of Brampton, Ont., 15, plays tackle football and volleyball too, but is drawn to the tempo of flag.
While tackle has different physical demands because of hits and the size of the field, flag has speed. “Unlike tackle, the field isn’t as big. So I’m able to move around, get from sideline to sideline, catch up to players or get away from players really fast,” says Lindsay, who plays flag with Team Ontario U16 and the DawkSports Athletics Association. “You have to stay on your toes. It’s like you’re constantly going.”
To Bishop, flag offers more than just fun and an easy entry point to football. “The athleticism is insane,” she says.
