The National Football League (NFL), GENYOUth, and FLAG are celebrating the 11th year of GENYOUth’s NFL FLAG-In-School program
with the opening of national applications for the 2024-2025 school year. Educators and school-based community organizations can apply for a
free kit to strengthen and enhance their physical education curriculum and equipment. Applications will close on May 15.
Through a renewed commitment of $1.5 million from the NFL Foundation, NFL FLAG-In-School offers opportunities for physical activity to students regardless of gender, ability, or skill level. Since 2014 and through the 2024-25 school year, 37,000 kits will have been provided to U.S. schools and school-based community organizations, engaging an estimated 17 million students to become more active.
According to a news release, the program fuels interest and engagement in sports while providing an equitable solution for schools that lack accessibility to physical activity opportunities for students due to budget constraints. NFL FLAG-In-School’s positive impact on girls is particularly notable, with schools reporting increases in female students’ participation in physical activity, a growing number of all-girl after-school flag football programs, and a movement toward girls’ flag football as a varsity sport at the high school level. Flag football, already one of the fastest-growing team sports in
the United States, is going global with the recent decision to add it to the Olympics program for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
“With fewer than one in four school-aged youth getting the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity, the need for NFL FLAG-In-School and the opportunities it provides for students to be physically active has never been greater,” says Ann Marie Krautheim, CEO ofGENYOUth. “Educators tell us that the tools and resources we provide are a critical part of their efforts to support the health and well-being of their students. We are proud of NFL FLAG-In-School’s role in inspiring youth to embrace a lifelong love of sport.”
NFL FLAG-In-School is hitting the road in 2024 with a series of in-school flag football clinics/unboxing events in cities including Orlando and Indianapolis. The events, hosted by former NFLer and global flag football ambassador Bobby Taylor, provide opportunities for students to learn more about flag football while taking to the field to develop their football skills.
This will continue in the Detroit region as GENYOUth partners with the Detroit Sports Commission, the NFL, and Alltroo to bring NFL FLAG-In-School to middle schools in Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties for the 2024-25 school year.
To learn more and apply for an NFL FLAG-In-School kit for your school, visit flag.genyouthnow.org/. To find or start an NFL FLAG league in your community, visit nflflag.com/school
