Today in Sports
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket
  • DMCA
  • Disclaimer
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket
No Result
View All Result
Today in Sports
No Result
View All Result

‘It’s gone berserk’: flag soccer quickly catching on in UK | Faculty sports activities

August 18, 2024
in NFL
0
Home NFL
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


You might also like

Details emerge about Aaron Rodgers’ contract with Steelers

Miami Dolphins Games You Will Attend!?!

Former NFL star Pacman Jones arrested, charged with assault of an officer | NFL

Flag soccer, a non-contact model of American soccer, is quickly catching on within the UK with a surge within the variety of colleges concerned and participation numbers set to hit 100,000 by 2026.

Fuelled by an lively marketing campaign by the New York-based NFL to encourage younger individuals in Britain to strive the much less violent various, groups with names such because the Northants Geese, the South Coast Spitfires and the London Fruit Bats are experiencing rising demand.

Faculty PE lecturers have reported elevated curiosity amongst kids pushed partly by the sport’s rising international profile in addition to dad and mom’ considerations that rugby and full-contact American soccer pose too nice a threat of mind harm. This yr, 343 colleges entered occasions for the UK NFL Flag Nationwide Championship, a 78% annual improve.

“Within the final three years it has gone berserk,” stated Jay Taylor, who based the Fruit Bats flag soccer membership in Ealing, west London. “Flag soccer has an opportunity of sticking right here, as a result of there may be nothing prefer it.”

Faculty PE lecturers have reported elevated curiosity amongst kids. {Photograph}: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

The profile of flag soccer has additionally been boosted by the Worldwide Olympic Committee’s resolution to incorporate the game for the primary time on the 2028 Los Angeles Video games and by the NFL’s change of its end-of-season showpiece Professional Bowl match from full contact to flag.

It’s one among a number of fast-growing new sports activities within the UK that embrace pickleball, a model of brief tennis utilizing a strong bat that has develop into vastly standard in California and is now catching on from Cornwall to Newcastle. Padel, a cross between tennis and squash beloved {of professional} footballers, can be spreading with the previous Wimbledon champion Andy Murray amongst these opening courts.

Flag soccer is a model of the sport by which defenders make “tackles” by grabbing a cloth “flag” hooked up by Velcro on each participant’s belt fairly than the sort of crunching bodily assault that folks, and docs, more and more concern could cause long-term mind harm. As an alternative of 11 absolutely armoured gamers on the pitch for both sides, 5 to seven take the sphere in simply shorts, T-shirts and trainers. The ideas of the sport are the identical: the offence attempting to advance the ball by a sequence of pre-planned performs whereas the defence tries to cease them.

The Fruit Bats have already got 70 gamers aged 14 and beneath. In contrast with soccer, which is performed by greater than 3.3 million kids, the possibilities of success are larger. A major draw seems to be the NFL’s annual invitation to the most effective college groups to compete in a world event in Florida.

Taylor stated the NFL and a number of other of its skilled groups have been additionally fast to help colleges and golf equipment by providing balls and flag belts. The Jacksonville Jaguars have been selling “Jag Tag” within the UK for a number of years. This yr the New York Jets, owned by Donald Trump’s former ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, and the Chicago Bears introduced an growth of their women’ tag soccer league within the UK.

The Fruit Bats have already got 70 gamers aged 14 and beneath. {Photograph}: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Jacob and Leia, each 11, are members of the Little Ealing main college workforce that gained the nationwide title this yr and are as a result of compete on the February 2025 NFL Flag World Championships in Florida.

Leia, who performed her first sport when she was 10, stated: “I by no means knew the game earlier than. You get to run way more and there’s a playbook which is kind of enjoyable and the quarterback will get to determine what play we do.

“You want to have the ability to bounce excessive, get into house, watch the ball, run quick and dodge gamers.”

Jacob added: “It is advisable to ensure you pay attention nicely and actually perceive what you might be doing.”

Amid the college’s success, the PE instructor Bobby Behzadi stated he had been inundated with a “ridiculous” variety of gamers eager to hitch subsequent yr’s workforce, their curiosity boosted by the potential of a visit overseas. However a part of the recognition is the vary of roles on every workforce suiting individuals with completely different strengths.

“Pace helps, however the thinkers can get into it too,” Behzadi stated. “It’s a sport of cat and mouse. There’s a number of resolution making and exploiting and discovering weaknesses within the opposition defence. Now we have individuals who won’t be the quickest runner however have good arms and might play quarterback.”



Source link

Tags: berserkcatchingflagfootballrapidlySchoolSports
Share30Tweet19

Recommended For You

Details emerge about Aaron Rodgers’ contract with Steelers

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 8, 2025
0
Details emerge about Aaron Rodgers’ contract with Steelers

Aaron Rodgers finally agreed to a deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers this week, and some details about the contract have emerged. Rodgers has informed the Steelers that he...

Read more

Miami Dolphins Games You Will Attend!?!

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 8, 2025
0
Miami Dolphins Games You Will Attend!?!

With the season slowly creeping up on us, I posted the following question last week: Will you be attending any of the Miami Dolphins’ 2025-2026 games in person,...

Read more

Former NFL star Pacman Jones arrested, charged with assault of an officer | NFL

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 7, 2025
0
Former NFL star Pacman Jones arrested, charged with assault of an officer | NFL

Former NFL defensive back Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones is facing several charges in Kentucky, including assault of a police officer and public intoxication.WHIO TV 7 in Ohio reported that...

Read more

Sources — QB Rodgers with Steelers, signs one-year, $13.65M deal

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 7, 2025
0
Sources — QB Rodgers with Steelers, signs one-year, .65M deal

Brooke PryorJun 7, 2025, 01:49 PM ETCloseBrooke Pryor is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019. She previously covered the...

Read more

Seattle Seahawks vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced as 50th anniversary season special

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 7, 2025
0
Seattle Seahawks vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced as 50th anniversary season special

What better way to celebrate 50 seasons in the National Football League than to host a game against the other team celebrating their own special anniversary? The Seattle...

Read more
Next Post
UFC 305 Decide Will get Fired After Handing In Worst Scorecard In UFC Historical past

UFC 305 Decide Will get Fired After Handing In Worst Scorecard In UFC Historical past

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin digs at Serie A – Inter Milan lets its soccer do the talking vs. Barcelona in Champions League

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin digs at Serie A – Inter Milan lets its soccer do the talking vs. Barcelona in Champions League

May 6, 2025
Barcelona Open Schedule and Attracts for Thursday, April 18, 2024

Barcelona Open Schedule and Attracts for Thursday, April 18, 2024

April 18, 2024
Manchester United and Ruben Amorim secret ‘showdown talks’ revealed after Europa League final defeat

Manchester United and Ruben Amorim secret ‘showdown talks’ revealed after Europa League final defeat

May 27, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Athletics
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • MMA
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • Racing
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
Today in Sports

Get the Latest Sports News and Updates on TodayInSports.net. Soccer News, Basketball News, Baseball News, Golf News, Boxing News and More!

CATEGORIES

  • Athletics
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • MMA
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • Racing
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Tennis

Recent News

  • Homegrown players who scored in European Cup finals
  • Juventus make U-turn on Andrea Cambiaso amidst Man City links
  • Germany vs. France: Confirmed lineups for UEFA Nations League third-place clash
  • Contact us
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • DMCA
  • Get the Latest Sports News and Updates on TodayInSports.net.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright © 2024 Today in Sports.
Today in Sports is not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket

Copyright © 2024 Today in Sports.
Today in Sports is not responsible for the content of external sites.