American flag football hope Ashlea Klam: It all starts with believing
Flag Football
Since she was a child, Ashlea Klam dreamed of becoming an Olympian, getting the Olympic rings tattoo, and perhaps even wearing a gold medal around her neck. Growing up in Texas, she hoped for a day she would get to wear a jersey that read USA.
The only problem is that Klam, now 19, had fallen in love with playing flag football, a sport she took up after watching her brother Peyton play. She played other sports, but flag football is really where she found joy. Until recently, her Olympic dreams were unlikely.
But in October of 2023, the IOC announced that flag football will be on the program for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028. Her belief that her sport would hit the Olympics had paid off.
“I always had the goal; [I was] creating vision boards, dream boards. I always had the goal of Olympics. And even when it wasn't announced that it was an official sport, it was still in my mind that it was going to be because I know what this sport is and I know what this sport can do for people,” Klam told Olympics.com.
'Anyone can play flag football'
Klam is a member of the U.S. national team, and she cried when she found out the news. She hopes flag football getting the Olympic seal of approval means that more people will get to know the sport.
“Anyone can play flag football. You don't have to be a certain height. You don't have to be a certain speed, a certain age, a certain gender. This sport is for everyone. And being able to have this sport represented at the Olympic level. I think that everyone will see that,” Klam said. “You belong on the football field. And that's why I'm so excited that the Olympics are going to be able to represent that to the world, and everyone will see that.”
Before she can think about LA 2028, Klam will head to Finland to play for the International Federation of American Football’s world championship. The U.S. won the last two championships, and will contend with other great teams from Mexico, Japan and Great Britain.
“USA Football has created an amazing environment for us, and us being able to go out there and represent United States and represent the younger girls in our country who want to do what we do. That's what I'm most excited for. A lot of us have amazing bonds. We have created some just amazing memories, and I'm really excited to go make more there,” Klam said.
In Finland, Klam will play with Vanita Krouch, the longtime quarterback for Team USA. Krouch has been at the heart of USA Football for years, and Klam has looked up to her for a long time. Now, they get to play together.
“She is just an amazing human being. She has devoted her life to getting this sport to where it should be. And I mean, I want to do the things that she does for this sport,” Klam said.
“She has this leadership mentality, that it's like if something goes wrong, it's fine because we have Vanita like she's there. She has that cool mentality, that I am the goat mentality.”
Klam plays for Keiser University in Florida, but also plays for the Texas Fury, her club based in Austin. When Klam was younger and found herself as one of the only girls on the team, her parents created the Fury, a girls-only flag football club team that has expanded to eight different teams for different age groups.
“I was competing in the boys coed division when really, I was the only girl on that team. And majority of the time you weren't going to meet another girl playing. And so having those experiences, seeing whenever you step on the field and all of the boys, they look at you like, oh my gosh, we are about to sweep this team. They have a girl. It's an experience created who I am and I hope that a lot of girls now they don't have to have that feeling. And so that's a huge reason of why my parents ended up creating Texas Fury,” Klam said.
The Texas Fury’s growth has mimicked the growth of flag football in the United States. The National Football League, the professional American tackle football league, sponsors NFL Flag around the U.S., sponsors NFL Flag, with more than 600,000 kids playing flag football. Worldwide, the NFL reports that 20 million people play the sport in 100 different countries.
Its inclusion in LA28 will give sport more exposure, and more chances to grow. But it’s about more than just having bigger numbers for a sport. For players like Klam, it gives them not just a sport they love, but a chance for Olympic dreams.