LA 2028 gives flag football players something special to work for

On Sunday night, the Chicago Bears lost to the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL, playing at Sofi Stadium, which will host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the LA 2028 Olympics. Meanwhile, at the Bears’ practice facility in suburban Chicago, girls with dreams of participating in those Olympics played for the Illinois state championship in flag football.

Lane Tech College Prep beat Phillips Academy for the title, 30-0. Lane Tech’s speed on defense was tough for Phillips to beat. Flag football is a new and growing sport for girls, but the players involved love that they have a chance to now have Olympic dreams. It was announced on October 16 that flag football will be a part of the LA 2028 program.

Sadia Rodriguez started playing football because Lane Tech is one of the largest high schools in Illinois, and she wanted to challenge herself and find her niche within the more than 4,000 students at the school.

"[Flag football] was just something that I could look forward to for myself, and as a goal of mine. And I love playing flag football. And now knowing that I could play at the collegiate level, and then now knowing that I could strive for the Olympics. It's amazing,” Rodriguez said.

In the bronze medal game, Willowbrook High School beat Guilford. Willowbrook won the state championship in 2022, and the players there want flag football to be a part of their futures.

'I knew I had to start working harder'

"[Finding out that flag football was in the Olympics] was surreal. Once I heard that, I knew that I had to start working harder. And I'm hoping that I can get there someday. It's a dream. It's a goal of mine,” said Emma Anderlik, a senior for Willowbrook. “Playing football in general was a dream itself. And then when it became a thing, it was just like, wow, I never knew there'd be so many more opportunities following it that yeah, so now that they are following that, it's just, I gotta take advantage.”

Rodriguez and Anderlik are going through the recruiting process, and plan to keep playing flag football in college. 23 colleges currently sponsor varsity-level flag football, and both want to play at the next level.

For younger players, they can continue to play at the high school level, and hope the sport continues to grow in time for them to go to college. Willowbrook’s Marli Smrz often played informal games of touch football with her cousins, so she jumped at the chance to play in high school. Though she is younger, she is still focused on 2028, and started goalsetting the second the LA 2028 program was announced.

“That's my goal. Yeah, that's where I want to be. 2028. I was like praying and hoping it would happen. You know, I have something to work for. Yeah. And that's like, I want to be there,” Smrz said.

A dream made tangible

Tackle football is largely played by boys and men, even at the younger levels of the sport. Gustavo Silva, the Chicago Bears’ manager of youth and high school football programs, said the Bears wanted to open up the sport to girls and women. They started the girls’ flag football program with 22 schools in the Chicago Public Schools league in 2021. By 2023, the program is up to 100 teams across eight leagues.

“It warms my heart to know that these girls are getting this opportunity. They're so passionate about the sport, and these four teams that are here today only represent a small percentage of the total number of girls that are now being impacted,” Silva said. “[The LA 2028 announcement] just made our dream and the girls’ dream that much more tangible. One day they can play in the Olympics. One day that can represent their country, possibly win a medal.”

According to the NFL, their flag football program, NFL Flag, has nearly 600,000 players in more than 1,800 leagues. More and more states are starting to sanction flag football. It’s transforming from the game played in physical education classes and in recreational leagues to a real sports opportunity. The Olympics just strengthen this.

Vanita Krouch, the quarterback for the U.S. national flag football team, was on hand to address the teams and hand out awards. She said one of the best parts of flag football is that unlike in some sports, like basketball or gymnastics, there’s not a specific body type that excels at flag. It’s truly open to all, creating diverse teams on the field.

“It is so inclusive, which makes it so fun and still available for everybody. Whether you're a man or a woman, whether you're 6-foot-5 or 5-foot. I just think with this sport being so inclusive, we all feel welcomed that we can make an impact in the game,” Krouch said.

Lane Tech coach Caroline Schwarz had just been hired as a teacher at Lane Tech when she asked if the school needed a flag football coach. She’d played the game in rec leagues for years, and was thrilled to learn Lane Tech had just signed up the Bears’ league. Her hope is she can see some of the girls she coached play alongside Krouch in the Olympics.

“Football is a sport that I almost love because it was for the boys. To see it be for girls is just everything I've ever wanted. Kind of living vicariously through them because I didn't have it,” Schwarz said. “They’re family. Lane’s a gigantic school, so we’ve got girls coming in from softball, soccer, basketball, no sports, trying something new. And just seeing success because anybody can play flag football.”