Flag football, a new Olympic discipline in 2028

You know American football with its players wearing helmets and protected against impacts. But probably less so, flag football, its little cousin. Here, it's quite the opposite: no protection. And for good reason, contact is completely prohibited. No tackling, everything is more subtle.

In a club in the Paris region, everyone wears two small flags at their waist, the flags. Having it stolen is the same as being dumped. “The only way the defense has to prevent the attack from advancing is to succeed in snatching the flag from the person who has the ball in their hands. This allows us to not have any tackles, so no one gets hurt here and we can continue to train at all ages,” explained Ilan Behar, quarterback of the Leviathan Flag Football RAC.

A mixed sport

And in this game of gaining ground, the girls are doing quite well. Because this sport is mixed. “I manage to sneak in everywhere, especially with the big guys. It’s something that’s quite easy for me,” said Clarisse Maillet, of Leviathan Flag Football RAC.

There are dozens of combinations to keep in mind moving forward. “It's really like a game of chess in fact, with little humans that you move when you play your games. And the idea really is that, it's to try to counter what the attack is going to do, to try to counter what the defense is going to do,” said Krystel Lemoine, the team's coach.

A first at the Olympic Games

Present for 40 years in France, the flag only has 17,000 members, but it is booming among very young people. They were brought together on Tuesday, October 20, in Paris, by the American Football League and one of its stars. "For me, flag playing was my first step into football. It's my children's favorite pastime. My son started playing flag when he was 4 or 5 years old," said Cameron Jordan, former NFL player for the New Orleans Saints.

So what to choose? Flag or American football? Achille already has his own idea: “As I am 11 years old, I cannot yet play contact sports, but I still have a preference for American football.” In two years, the flag will be an Olympic discipline for the first time at the Los Angeles Olympics. France is not yet qualified. It would be a great showcase for this sport, which is still confidential.