TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been long-time advocates for growing the sport of flag football.
The eighth annual Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic has set another record, with 130 teams and more than 3,000 athletes.
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“What the Bucs do with 130 teams, there are people from all over the state here, it’s pretty special,” Robinson High School head coach Josh Saunders said. “It’s at no cost for the players. Two full games, referees, the whole deal. Very cool event.”
Games will be played on both the outdoor field and the indoor practice facility at the AdventHealth Training Center through Sunday.
For many of these players, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a game where their NFL heroes play every day.
“Since flag football is a continuously growing sport, it's super cool to experience what not everyone is able to experience, like boys’ regular tackle football,” Plant High School linebacker and wide receiver Callie Mosley said.
“It’s honestly the coolest thing ever,” Robinson quarterback Paige Halverson added. When I started, I didn’t know I would have experiences like this. It’s a surreal experience. I never thought I’d be able to. To see how much it's grown. There are so many more teams each year.”
The Tampa Bay Area has really become a hotbed for flag football.
Six of the top 25 teams in the nation will take the field this week, including Robinson — a powerhouse team that has won nine straight state championships and ten of the last 11.
“One of the things that I think makes a difference about why the Tampa Bay Area is so good at flag football, in part, is because of the Buccaneers’ support,” Saunders said. “This is not something new to them since flag football, because ‘cool’ across the nation, they’ve been doing this well before.”
The Glazer family and the Bucs have hosted this event for nearly a decade because they believe sports are designed for development on and off the field.
“That comes from a place of belief that playing sports growing up and becoming a leader later in life,” Bucs’ Chief Impact Officer Kourtney Sanchez said. “Ninety-four percent of female executives played sports growing up. But girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys. The family and Buccaneers want to impact that statistic, keeping girls in sports.”
The Bucs will again be hosting the state high school tournament in May.
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