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How Taylor Swift is helping flag football keep growing before Olympic debut

GB women lift the trophy after winning the 2023 European Flag Football ChampionshipAndyKeith.Photo

NFL analyst Phoebe Schecter (front right) helped Great Britain win the European Flag Football Championships in Limerick last year

By Ben Collins
BBC Sport

Taylor Swift is proving to be American football's gift that keeps on giving.

The global superstar's relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce lured scores of new fans to the USA's National Football League last season.

Her presence at the Chiefs' Super Bowl win in February helped make it the most watched ever, with a record number of female viewers.

From the UK to Australia, the American singer-songwriter is not just bringing new spectators to the sport, she is inspiring young girls to play it too.

And that is helping one of the world's fastest growing sports - flag football - grow even faster before making its Olympic debut.

USA's favourite sport earns Olympic vote

After a failed attempt at inclusion for Tokyo 2020, the International Federation of American Football (Ifaf) agreed a partnership with the NFL, targeting Los Angeles 2028.

In 2017 the NFL launched its own programme for flag football, the non- version of the game, and last October it was one of five sports added to the Olympic programme for 2028.

"It's really special for a lot of young people, that they now can play at the pinnacle of sport and represent their country in flag football," former Great Britain player Afia Law, now NFL Flag's international development manager, told BBC Sport.

Flag is the most inclusive and accessible form of American football. It is played by more than 20 million people, across more than 100 countries, and the rapid growth of the women's game was key to earning the Olympic vote.

"Female participation has really been the driving force," said NFL analyst Phoebe Schecter, who has also played both flag and tackle football for Great Britain.

"People used to say that flag was a female sport whereas men would play tackle, but it's for everyone now. People see how explosive it is, the incredible contested catches, and it doesn't matter what your gender is, this is a place where you can just compete and have a great time."

GB trailblazers enjoy European glory

Kate Bruinvels and Kellie Barrett playing for Great Britain's flag football teamAndyKeith.Photo

Kate Bruinvels (left) and Kellie Barrett (right) playing for Great Britain, who are fourth in the women's world rankings behind the USA, Mexico and Japan

Yet Great Britain's teams have not just been having a great time, they have been winning too. Schecter played on the women's team that became European champions last August, then helped coach the Under-17 girls as they also became European champions in September.

There have been many obstacles for the current women's team. Kate Bruinvels had to set up a crowdfunding page to raise the £750 she needed to compete in Ireland last summer.

Meanwhile, after discovering flag football at primary school, Kellie Barrett and her family formed their own club - the Coventry Cougars - so that she and her sister could keep playing.

But Loughborough College now offers 10 flag football scholarships for male and female athletes aged 16-19, and the British game is set for a funding boost before the World Championships in August, for which Great Britain's women and men have qualified.

"We've been successful without that help - how successful can we be with it">