5 days ago
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes comments on incredible catch at NFL FLAG Championships
This week, Chiefs Wire's Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Alexia Gallagher, Executive Director of the NFL Foundation, and Stephanie Kwok, the head of Flag Football, to discuss the impactful youth development through flag football.
"NFL FLAG-In-School, we want to ensure that underserved youth have every opportunity to play and that we're helping to level the playing field," said Gallagher, "Those teachers have access to all the resources available to stay healthy and fit. We believe that playing flag football is one of the best ways to do that. When we talk about youth health and wellness and how our campaign was focused on physical wellness, over the years, we expanded our youth health and wellness work to include mental wellness as well, and really to ensure that our work supports the whole child so physically through grant partnerships like the one that we have with GENYOUth on the NFL FLAG-In-School program."
The Kansas City Chiefs often highlight youth flag football teams in the community, promoting the sport and its impact on the future. All players in the program have the opportunity to learn from legendary NFL athletes and staff. Patrick Mahomes was one of the many on social media commenting on an incredible touchdown reception during a boys' flag football game on Saturday.
"There's so many NFL players that grew up playing flag football that it was a part of their elementary school days, even beyond into middle school as well," said Kwok, "So I think hearing when they share that experience, when they share that they play flag football, that it helps with their early exposure to football, and it helps with their skills development, that's a route that you can take. You can start with flag football, you can move on from there to tackle football, to either playing in the NFL, and then also, though, now there's that opportunity right for women to play football through flag football, and that's an opportunity that they didn't have before. Now, you can play in high school, you can play in college, and you can play in the Olympics alongside men and NFL players. I think that's what's special about flag football. You see everyone playing flag football, from NFL players to our current national flag team players to college and high school players, to just kids in gym and physical education class. That's what shows, I think, how truly accessible and inclusive it is."
NFL FLAG-In-School is a critical entry point for millions of students to get moving in school. By providing free flag football equipment and a standards-based curriculum to schools, the program empowers educators to motivate students with a fun and inclusive activity designed for all skill levels.
