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Girls’ flag football takes NFL’s center stage
Jordan Bowen reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Football may have started as a male sport, but that's not the case anymore.
Girls' high school flag football is growing faster than ever in Florida and Wednesday, Bay Area teams got the chance to showcase their skills on the field at the NFL Experience inside Julian B. Lane Park.
"It feels like the greatest thing ever so if you're trying to do flag football, pursue it and keep going because you're only going to get better," Alonso High School senior Chloe Tucker said.
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Nike ad features Robinson, Alonso High teams
Nike released a nationwide commercial highlighting the Alonso and Robinson flag football teams. It is tied to the Super Bowl- and the teams are very excited for their big debut.
Tucker has been playing since her freshman year. She and her team, along with three other teams faced off in a special two-game series sponsored by Nike and the NFL.
"It's not powder puff and it's not people pretending to play football. It's its own unique sport. It's very fast-paced and if you watch it at a high level you would be extremely impressed with what girls are able to do," the head coach of Alonso High School girls flag football, Matt Hernandez said.
Hernandez, who led his team to back-to-back state championships in 2018 and 2019, is happy to see Nike and the NFL's support behind the sport.
Opportunity of a lifetime: Tampa students featured in Nike Super Bowl ad
This week, Nike announced it's pledging $5 million in gear, which will go toward growing female high school flag football.
"One of the reasons I think the sport has grown so much in Hillsborough County and Florida is the camaraderie between the coaches and the way they've got together and been like we really need to push this sport together," Hernandez said.
One of the sport's biggest supporters is former Bucs offensive lineman and Super Bowl champ Roman Oben, who helped announce Wednesday's games.
"The goal for the sport is to evolve from just getting a seat at the table to really driving the sport. We don't look at flag football or tackle any differently. If there's a ball, there's a field, there's competition, it's fun. It's still football," Oben said.