In addition to the Atlanta Falcons and the Blank Family Foundation monetary support, NIKE will provide girls flag apparel to assist the AHSAA with launching girls’ flag football throughout the state.
The Atlanta Falcons have played a key role in the growth of girls’ flag football nationally. In response to the alarming low number of girls’ sports offered in Georgia in 2018, the Falcons and the Blank Family Foundation approached Gwinnett County Public Schools, the largest county in Georgia, to pilot and fully fund a girls’ high school flag football program.
As a result, hundreds of girls tried out in the first year bringing the attention of other schools to the program in 2019. Last fall, Georgia became one of only four states (Alaska, Nevada and Florida) to make girls’ high school flag football an official sanctioned sport.
Following the success of the 2020 season, the Falcons participated in discussions with additional states, beginning with Alabama, to help fund high school girls’ flag football. Many other NFL teams have also started conversations in their markets to begin girls’ flag football, using the Atlanta Falcons model as a best practice.
NFL FLAG has been leading the charge to help expand women’s flag football across the U.S. at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. NFL FLAG will work as a strategic partner with the Falcons, AHSAA, and Nike to lead coaching clinics, develop competition guidelines, and establish a framework for high schools interested in instituting girls’ flag football in Alabama.