Flag football explodes in US

Flag football, a non-contact version of American football, is spreading like wildfire among US girls drawn by the prospect of its inclusion in the 2028 Olympics, its popularity even sparking plans for a professional league.

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“It’s the youth version of pickleball, the fastest growing adult sport,’ says Michael Colt, comparing flag football to the racquet sport that’s all the rage among the over-30s. “It’s crazy.”

Colt, 44, coaches the Staten Island Giants, last year’s under-18 US champions.

Since he co-founded the club in 2019, its youth teams have earned a host of national titles and sent several players to the national team.

Colt said ithad been “a struggle” early on to gain recognition and find backing.

“We fought for everything” he said. “We were kind of always pushed to the side, like this wasn’t serious.

“And I see that about the sport to this day, when you're asking the difference in the sport. In the beginning, nobody really wanted to coach girls”

The Giants’ trajectory mirrors that of the sport as a whole. Developed as an alternative to collision prone tackle football, girls’ and women’s flag was relatively unknown six years ago.