Popularity of sport expected to
increase further
By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
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| Two players jet downfield in a Rush high school flag game. |
On October 16, 2023, flag football in both men’s and women’s events was approved by the International Olympic Committee for play in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, Calif. Flag football will be in the Olympic Games for the first time in 2028 along with squash, while baseball, softball, cricket and lacrosse return after varying absences. Flag football games at the Olympics will be contested in a five-on-five format on a 50-yard field with no linemen in both men’s and women’s action.
Brian
Guebert, who is the executive director Saskatoon Minor Football, said the
announcement that the flag game was going to be accepted into the Olympics was
something his organization was anticipating for a while. He said there was a
cool feeling when the official announcement came out.
“For it to be official was
something really exciting,” said Guebert. “It was kind of that breath of fresh
air going, ‘Alright. It is for real now and they’re moving forward with it in a
high-performance capacity.’
“It has really changed the tune of
how people are approaching the sport of flag football. A lot of times it was a
secondary sport. It was something people did for recreation.
“Now, we’re seeing a lot of our
young athletes saying, ‘I want to do this as my primary sport.’ That has been
really exciting as a result of the announcement of it being an Olympic sport.”
Over the years, Saskatoon Minor Football has developed a
number of flag programs including Lil’Tops 3-on-3 flag football, the NFL 5-on-5
Youth Flag Football League, the Rush Female High School Football Flag league,
the Toon Squad competitive flag league and the Toon Squad travel teams. Outside
of Saskatoon Minor Football, the Saskatoon Adult Flag Football League operates
with men’s and women’s divisions and a number of those players coach in the
programs offered by SMF.
Guebert said the
inclusion of flag football to the Olympics will have a big positive impact on
the elite-level side of the game.
“I just think that we will see some growth in our programing
in particularly our high-performance program,” said Guebert. “We’ve been
fortunate for the last two years in anticipation of this to give our athletes
the best chance to compete.
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| Reed Thorstad coaches a Toon Squad league flag game. |
With that said, Guebert is expecting there will be increased popularity for the overall flag game and in all the flag leagues SMF oversees.
“Overall, our NFL youth flag league, our Rush high school
girls flag league and we have a Toon Squad league that plays kind of a little
more a high-performance model in the fall for females,” said Guebert. “I think
we’ll see those steadily continue to grow.
“We’ve had some fantastic growth in really the last 15 or 20
years here. I think we’ll see those continue to sustain a pretty marked growth
curve. I’m excited to see where flag football takes us as a football
organization.”
Reed Thorstad, who is best known as a star receiver for the
Saskatoon Valkyries women’s tackle football team, has played flag football for
some time and coaches in both the tackle and flag side of the sport with SMF.
She was excited flag football was accepted into the Olympics and said it is an
amazing sport technically and tactically.
Thorstad believes Canada will be a high medal contender at
the Olympics. She believes the fact flag football becoming an Olympic sport
will add to what has been developed in Saskatoon.
“I think it is amazing what we have going on here in
Saskatoon right now,” said Thorstad. “There has been a lot of growth in flag
football both in the amount of girls playing flag football but also the level
of skill that we’re seeing now.
“There is definitely an interest in it. I think that is
going to continue to challenge everyone whether they’ve been playing for a long
time or they’re new to the sport. Anyone that is chasing that Olympic dream
should just work that much harder, because you know that next generation is
going to be working for it too.”
Over the past two winters, Thorstad as a coach has taken an
SMF female travel team to a tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. She felt those experiences were eye
opening for her players showing that they could play against the best players
in their age group in the world.
As for herself, Thorstad will soon turn 28-years-old, so she
isn’t sure where she would stand for potentially playing in the 2028 Olympics.
She did say it is possible that players she coached could be playing in those
games.
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| A quarterback, right, makes a pass in an NFL Youth flag game. |
“I think it would be an amazing opportunity to even have the chance to try and do that. I know that it is going to be tough competition in Canada, because we have some excellent flag football players and flag football teams. We will see what happens, but I think we’ll have some representation from Saskatchewan in some capacity.”
Cam Skinner, who is a defensive back for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team and is flag player too, believes having flag football at the Olympics is going to help the exposure for the sport of football overall.
“It is big for the sport for sure,” said Skinner. “You see
just the flag numbers that have been rising.
“As a football player, it is cool to see more people just
playing. Personally and just with the guys I’ve played with, we’re just excited
for the potential to see something you’ve been playing on TV and in the
Olympics and then have maybe the chance to go.”
Skinner, who is 24-years-old, is entering his fifth and
final season of eligibility with the Huskies. He still has hopes of playing the
tackle game professionally in the CFL, but he the added the opportunity of
having the flag game as part of the Olympics is another chance to play the
sport at a high level in 2028.
“The mindset is cool,” said Skinner. “The potential that
would be my peak years.
“You always wonder now that it is an Olympic sport who is
going to be available and excited to go. You look at the caliber of athletes we
have in Canada. There are guys going to the NFL that might be vying for that
spot kind of when that time comes around.
“As a guy that has played high level football in Canada and
played a bunch of flag, it is an exciting opportunity just to even have that consideration
out there. It will be interesting to see when 2028 comes around.”
Overall, Guebert said flag football has been important to
SMF for some time, and have flag football in the Olympics gives that version of
the sport an extra boost. He said it is a great entry point for the game
because players need to bring cleats, and they are good to go.
“It is a low barrier of entry and then from a fundamental
perspective it teaches fundamental skills that are transferable to
high-performance flag but also transferable to tackle football,” said Guebert.
“I’ll tell any of our parents that it is way harder to take a couple of flags
off somebodies’ hips than it is to tackle them.
.JPG) |
| A Falcons runner rips downfield in an NFL Youth flag game. |
“It teaches you coverage skills. It teaches you rushing
skills. It teaches you pursuit angles. It is all really, really good without
having any contact involved.”
For more information on the flag and other programs offered by Saskatoon Minor Football, feel free to check out their website at saskatoonminorfootball.com.
