Wed, Oct 09, 2024 page7

• Taylor Swift inspiring girls to play flag football

  • The Guardian
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  Molly Winter on Monday threw a perfect spiral pass for a 30-yard touchdown for the Britain under-15s against France at an empty Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In 2028, the west London schoolgirl could be doing the same in a packed arena beneath the lights at the Los Angeles Olympics.

  The rise to Olympic status of flag football, a noncontact version of the US gridiron game, has sparked a hunt for talent in schools and parks. The game’s about 80,000 British participants suddenly have a plausible shot at Olympic glory.

  If that was not enough to boost participation, Taylor Swift’s frequent appearances at NFL games enthusiastically supporting her boyfriend, the Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce, is providing rocket fuel.

  

  The Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce celebrates with partner Taylor Swift after beating the San Francisco 49ers for the Super Bowl title in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 11.

  Photo: Reuters

  “Because it’s a new sport there’s so much room to become an Olympian,” said Toshane Boyce, participation coordinator for NFL UK, which organized Monday’s tournament that also involved girls’ teams from Spain, Austria and Germany. “Now Taylor Swift’s involvement ramps it up even more. Girls are talking about it and want to get involved. The Taylor effect is helping us massively.”

  As well as Swifties giving the game a try, the allure of Los Angeles 2028 has also led to basketball players, track and field athletes and touch rugby players switching codes. It has echoes of the hunt for potential Team GB handball players before the London 2012 games.

  The NFL has been investing heavily in promoting the game in the UK, handing out balls and flag belts. Players are “tackled” by ripping a flag from a waist belt, an appealing alternative to the full contact version of the game that has many parents worrying about concussions.

  Instead of 11 padded-up players on the pitch for each side, five to seven take to the field in just shorts, T-shirts and sneakers. The principles of the game are the same: The offense tries to advance the ball through a series of preplanned plays, while the defense tries to stop them.

  A sharp rise in the number of schools involved means participation numbers are expected to hit 100,000 by 2026. More than half are girls. After the sport’s inclusion in the Los Angeles Games, Sport England, the government funding body, gave a ￡250,000 (US$327,229) grant to the British American Football Association.

  While the US team is predictably the favorite for gold, in August, the current British women’s team finished seventh at the International Federation of American Football’s Flag Football World Championships in Finland.

  “I have been dreaming about this ever since Los Angeles was selected,” said Kate Bruinvels, one of the senior team players who started playing at university in Chichester a decade ago. “I have been training every day for years and to have it finally accepted is unbelievable. Whether its the current squad or these girls out here, it’s going to be huge.”

  Valeria Barrocar La Femina, 14, is one of the players representing Britain at the U-14 level.

  She has not ruled out a run at the games squad, but for now, said she loves the adrenaline of the play and the sense of team togetherness.

  Swift has “brought a whole new crowd” to the game, she said. “They might not have looked at the sport before.”

  “People look at her as such an icon and when they see she’s invested,” added Sienna Walji, 13, who also represents Britain.
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