No end(-zone) in sight Flag football season has officially kicked off with sport continuing to grow
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/04/2025 (481 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky Saturday as Football Manitoba kicked off another flag football season at Princess Auto Stadium. Games stretched horizontally across the Blue Bombers field, as players aged eight to 18 filed in for their games.
More Manitobans than ever before are playing flag football as the game’s rapid growth continues to build momentum. Eight years ago, roughly 800 kids were registered to play. This year, nearly 2,400 have signed up.
Bill Johnson, executive director of Football Manitoba, said low equipment costs and relaxed time commitments make flag football an attractive sport for newcomers.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Weston Wizards’ Emmett makes a “tackle” at the flag football season kick off.
“There’s not a lot of barriers to participation,” said Johnson. “People show up. You have a couple flags, you have a football, you have a game. Small patch of grass, and off you go.”
Manitoba has a reputation for success across Canada’s flag football community, from the club level to the elite. Team Manitoba won gold at last year’s Elite Flag Nationals in the men’s 18-year-old division, while winning bronze at the men’s under-18 level and both men’s and women’s under-16 levels.
Johnson said the success of Winnipeg’s local teams deserve some credit for the game’s growth.
“The success the (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) have had recently, the success the (Manitoba Bisons) have had recently, I think that gets people excited about football,” said Johnson.
All teams were provided blue or gold flag football jerseys by the Blue Bombers for this weekend’s kick off. The Bombers also spearheaded a high school flag football league for girls which, in its second season, grew from 19 teams to 30.
“The highest level of growth has actually been on the girls’ side,” said Johnson. “This is a co-ed league, and we have all-girls teams competing in that no problem.”
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Weston Wizards’ Judah makes a run as the Football Manitoba’s Blue Bombers Futures Spring Flag League kicked off Saturday at Princess Auto Stadium.
12-year-old Ainsley MacLean plays on an all-girls team with several girls from her school. Despite losing their first game of the weekend, MacLean is confident her team will bounce back.
“It was really good. We tried our hardest, but we didn’t win, but we’re going to do better next time,” said MacLean.
MacLean, in her second year of flag football, said the game has been a great way to meet people and get active.
“I get to do things with my friends,” she said. “It’s fun because sometimes we lose, and sometimes we win, and we know that we’re not always the best, but we can be sometimes.”
Flag football is growing on a global scale as well, being named as an event for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Johnson said Football Manitoba just hosted a training camp for the Flag National Team Pathway, which helps identify athletes across Canada for the 2028 Olympic team.
“(Flag football national team) athletes are here in Winnipeg, we have some coaches who are part of that Olympic pathway here in Winnipeg,” said Johnson. “The flag community in Winnipeg is a vibrant one.
Ben Little / Free Press
Executive director of Football Manitoba Bill Johnson says the highest level of growth in flag football has been on the girls’ side of the sport.
Still three years away from its Olympic debut, flag football’s thriving community shows no signs of slowing.
“All of a sudden, there’s a chance to go somewhere,” said Johnson. “People are competitive and want to compete — they want that chance. And now, now they have it.
“I think we have a real opportunity to have a couple (Manitoban) athletes at the Olympics.”
Manitoba will look to defend its national medals next month, when the Elite Flag Nationals come to Kingston, Ont., May 16 to 18.
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