Team Insight

TEAM FOOTBALL the South Atlantic region (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware). Age-wise, 55 percent of core football players are in the 13-17-year-old age group, while and 30.4 percent are in the 6-12-year-old group. From a race perspective, 58.4 percent of core football players are white/Caucasian, while 22.9 percent are black/African American. Meanwhile, in high schools, there were 1.03 million high school boys playing 11-player tackle football during the 2023 fall season, according to the latest participation studies by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), making it the most popular high school sport for boys in the U.S. It's interesting to note that 4094 girls played 11-player high school tackle football in 2023. Of course, not every high school football player was on an 11-player team, as six-player, eight-player, and nine-player football are popular in various parts of the country with smaller populations. e most popular version is eight- player football, followed by six-player and then nine-player. e top 10 states for high school football are Texas (171,246 players), California (89,667), Ohio (43,020), Florida (38,515), Illinois (36,810), Alabama (35,306), Georgia (33,039), Michigan (32,431), North Carolina (29,075) and Pennsylvania (27,850.) THIRD QUARTER FLAG'S CONTINUED GROWTH In many respects, flag football is similar to baseball in that there are many organizations and governing bodies with a significant stake in the game and a role to play in the delivering the sport to the masses. The National Football League (NFL), USA Football, NFHS, National Intramural and Recreation Sports Association (NIRSA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Pop Warner, International Flag Football Association (IFFA) and now the International Olympic Committee (IOC) all play a role in organizing and promoting the sport of flag football, which will be making its Olympics debut during the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028, where both men's and women's flag football will take place. e numbers are certainly impressive and tell a story of growth, especially among girls. According to USA Football, from 2014 through 2023 the number of girls ages six-to-17 play- ing flag football increased approximately 44 percent. Participation numbers reached new heights in 2023, with more than 230,000 girls playing flag football. During that same 10-year span, the number of girls playing flag football increased 222 percent. And according to SFIA, there were 7.2 million flag football players in the U.S. in 2023 and 2.6 million were considered core participants who participated 26 or more days that year. Other participation statistics worth sharing include: • 28.2 percent of flag football participants are six-to-12 years old; • 20.1 percent are 25-34 years old; • 36.2 percent come from households whose annual income is at least $100,000 a year; • Nearly 60 percent are Caucasian/white. e most populated region for participation is the South Atlantic part of the U.S. (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware). Nearly 25 percent live in the South Atlantic region. At the same time, flag football is growing strongly in popularity for girls at the high school level in many part of the U.S. According to the NFHS, 12 state associations – Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York and Tennessee – have sanctioned girls' flag football and another 19 states are involved in pilot programs at some level. e 19 state high school associations with pilot girls' flag football programs include Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. e states with the most participants are California, Florida, Georgia, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. "Flag (football) is a sport of inclusivity," points out Dr. Karissa Niehoff, CEO of the NFHS. "It can be played in any season, is fast-paced and offers an opportunity for young people to play and others to coach or officiate in the exciting sport of football." "e popularity of flag football – for boys and girls – has been growing at the youth levels for the past 10 years," Niehoff adds. "At a higher level of competition, more universities are beginning to offer flag football for girls, which will certainly enhance the appeal for girls playing the sport at the high school level. Internationally, the sport received a huge boost with the addition of flag football as an Olympic sport for men and women at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles." One of the many NFL-supported local youth flag football leagues in the U.S. is the Breakthru Athletic League, based in Loxahatchee, FL, located just west of West Palm Beach, where director of communications Matt Green says the local league's third year is finding continued growth. "Our organization formed in 2022 and our first season of NFL Flag Football was in the fall of that year," Green says. e NFL has provided and continues to support some logistical sup- port to the Breakthru Athletic League, but no monetary support. And meanwhile at the collegiate level, flag football remains an "emerging" sport while on its way to "invitational" status and eventually a "championship" level sport for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). ere are currently 22 NAIA flag football teams in the U.S. In addition to these 22 NAIA programs, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) has seven member institutions that 22 • Team Insight ~ November/December 2024 teaminsightmag.com

• Cover