Flag football numbers ‘exploding’ due to accessibility, big league promotion

If the size of Edmonton’s NFL Flag regional tournament happening next month in Beaumont is any indication, flag football is on the up and up.

With 24 teams registered, organizers are preparing for the biggest tournament they’ve hosted yet.

“We just had a practice a few days ago and it’s looking good,” Tessa Muddle, a U14 girls coach, told CTV News Edmonton in an interview Monday.

“They’re definitely excited to play,” she said of her players.

A player of four years herself, Muddle co-founded Edmonton’s Flag Like a Girl, an all-girls flag football club, in 2023. The group runs camps and leagues with funding from NFL Canada, Play to Lead, and local sponsors.

“When I started, the U16 girls flag football team had seven people come try out in their first year. And now, it’s bigger. A lot bigger. I think this year there was probably over 80 kids at tryouts for U14 to U19,” she told CTV News Edmonton.

This mirrors registration growth in Sherwood Park Youth Flag Football League, run by Lori Ekdahl.

Only three years old, the league has nearly 600 youth registered for the spring season and has counted double the registrations each year.

“You’re seeing people like Tom Brady hit the field with flags on his belt and we’ve got the power of the (National Football League) behind us, promoting the sport as well. So it’s really exploding,” Ekdahl explained.

But there are other factors influencing its rise in popularity, she believes, like the sport making its debut at the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles.

The International Federation of American Football expects organized participation in flag football to surpass tackle football worldwide within the next few years.

Ekdahl and Muddle also call flag football a relatively accessible sport, both financially and physically, since contact is not allowed in flag football like it is in tackle football.

“Parents are leery of putting their kids into a tackle sport. This is a really safe way and a really fun way to get into football,” Ekdahl said, adding that she knows a number of flag players who moved into tackle later on.

The tournament in Beaumont will consist of both female and co-ed contests for the U10, U12, and U14 age brackets.

The winners of each will move onto nationals in Toronto. The national winner will compete in the international championships in Indianapolis, Ind., in the summer.

But those who already play it want newcomers to know how fun it is even outside of competition.

“Playing with your friends is my favourite way of looking at it,” Muddle said.