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March 12, 2024,
It has evolved.
Become more respected.
Newly established and gender friendly.
Flag football used to be seen as a game played by males too chicken to play tackle football.
Decades ago, it was rarely played by women.
Fortunately, that has greatly changed.
A basic definition.
Flag football is a variant of gridiron football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier to end a play or down.
In flag football, contact is limited between players.
The sport has developed a strong amateur following with several national and international competitions each year sponsored by various associations but is most popularly played in America where it was invented.
The international governing body for the sport is the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). In 2022, flag football was shortlisted as a proposed discretionary event for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, with inclusion being accepted on October 16, 2023.
Now the NFL is involved which, in terms of becoming higher profile, changes everything.
Let’s see what they are doing.
At nflflag.com they educate, “Serving youth athletes ages 4 to 17 years old across the country. NFL FLAG leagues are no contact, giving boys and girls of all abilities a chance to develop their fundamental football skills in a positive, inclusive environment.
Today, with more than 600,000 participants, NFL FLAG continues to evolve. It’s a pathway for female athletes to play in college, as well as an outlet for tackle athletes to compete in the offseason. But as NFL FLAG grows, one thing stays the same: It’s a place for every boy and girl to play football.”
Sounds wonderful.
It would be great to have a popular star as the face of the emerging sport and the NFL has certainly found one.
Diana Flores is a Mexican flag football player. She is a quarterback and captain of the Mexican national team.
We can understand why the NFL plays some of their games in Mexico as American football is becoming more popular.
Diana started playing flag football when she was eight years old.
From an early age she joined important female leagues, among them the “Tocho Bandera” team of the White Eagles of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional.
In 2012, at the age of 14, she was called up to lead the North Penn High School team in Pennsylvania, United States, where they were crowned NFL regional champions.
In 2014, at the age of 16, she joined the Mexican national team that contended in that year’s IFAF Flag Football World Championship in Grosseto, Italy.
She became the youngest player to compete in an international tournament.
Diana has been a member of Mexico’s women’s national team since 2014.
In 2016, at the age of 18, she participated in the IFAF Flag Football World Championship held in Miami, Florida. Flores also played for the Mexico national team in Panama in 2018, in Jerusalem and Israel in 2021 and in the United States at the 2022 international championships.
Extremely impressive.
In June 2022, in a match played between the United States and Mexico, the Mexican team won the gold medal. With the match, she achieved a record of six wins and 0 losses in the World Flag Football Games as the starting quarterback of the Mexican team.
In the final against the United States, she completed 20 of 28 pass attempts for 210 yards and four touchdowns, leading Mexico to a dominating victory of 39–6.
She played the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas in February 2023 where she played offense.
With that resume, we can greatly appreciate that Diana is the face of and ambassador for the NFL in Flag Football.
In terms of Diana’s emerging career, look what she is up to next.
New Athletes Blake Griffin, Shaun White, and Diana Flores; Sports Personalities Taylor Rooks, and Pablo Torre Confirmed to Appear at Stagwell’s (STGW) Sport Beach 2024 During Cannes Lions
News provided by
06 Mar, 2024, 08:31 ET
NBCUniversal Returns as Brand Partner, The North Face Joins to Sponsor Rock Climbing Wall
NEW YORK and CANNES, France, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, announced today additional athletes and brand partners confirmed to activate at Sport Beach 2024 (June 17-20), the flagship sports business destination at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (Cannes Lions). Six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin, three-time Olympic Gold medalist Shaun White, Mexican Captain and Flag Football star Diana Flores, and former NFL player and American Ninja Warrior host Akbar Gbajabiamila join Sport Beach and will participate in featured programming and appearances.
Leading sports media personalities Taylor Rooks and Pablo Torre also join Sport Beach’s programming, bringing their unparalleled journalism and thought leadership to the week’s conversations. Previously, Stagwell announced the return of Sport Beach with athletes Carmelo Anthony, Sue Bird, Hélio Castroneves, Brandon Marshall and Megan Rapinoe confirmed to attend.
“As leaders, innovators, and cultural influencers, Blake, Shaun, and Diana all represent what makes athletes dynamic and interesting in new ways,” said Stagwell Chief Brand and Communications Officer Beth Sidhu. “We’re proud to feature these athletes who are paving the way in their respective sports and industries, and to welcome our new commentators and brand partners to Sport Beach 2024.”
Athletes
- Diana Flores (flag football) – Star quarterback and captain of Mexico’s National Team. A World Games Gold medalist, Diana also serves as the NFL & IFAF’s Flag Football global ambassador.
- Akbar Gbajabiamila (football) – Television host and former NFL player. He serves as host of THE TALK, CBS’ Daytime Emmy Award-winning talk show as well as host of NBC’s competition series “American Ninja Warrior.”
- Blake Griffin (basketball) – A 14-year NBA veteran with six NBA All-Star appearances and the 2011 NBA Rookie of the Year under his belt. The former Slam Dunk Champion has cultivated a reputation for his business acumen and investing prowess and appeared on the cover of the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30. He founded Mortal Media, a Los Angeles- based film and television production company, in 2016 with his partner Ryan Kalil.
- Shaun White (snowboarding and skateboarding) – One of the greatest action sports athletes of all time. 3x Gold Medal winning Snowboard Champion, becoming the first athlete to compete in both the Winter and Summer games and now Founder of his own snowboard brand, WHITESPACE.
Journalists
- Taylor Rooks – An Emmy nominated broadcaster, journalist, and cultural icon known most prominently for her work with Turner Sports/Bleacher Report and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football. For the success of her work, Taylor has been featured in Sports Illustrated: “100 Influential Black Women in Sports” and is considered one of the most influential figures in sports media today.
- Pablo Torre is one of the most dynamic voices in sports media. Currently, he hosts Pablo Torre Finds Out with Meadowlark Media and previously hosted and contributed to various programs at ESPN, including the television program High Noon with Bomani Jones and the podcast ESPN Daily.
Brand Partners
- NBCUniversal returns as a premier partner of Sport Beach. As one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies, NBCUniversal creates world-class content that is distributed across its portfolio of film, television and streaming, and brought to life in its theme parks. A subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, NBCUniversal owns and operates an expansive portfolio of news, entertainment, film, streaming, and television brands.
- The North Face is a new partner of Sport Beach and will be creating an interactive rock-climbing wall, built to provide a new activity for attendees. Since 1966 The North Face has proudly been a first choice for the world’s most accomplished climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers, snowboarders, endurance runners, and every-day explorers. The North Face is excited to partner with Sport Beach to bring climbing to Cannes ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris this Summer, where the brand will sponsor the Olympic climbing uniforms for the USA, France, Austria, Japan and South Korea.
Stagwell invites brands, athletes, sports leagues/teams, media platforms, journalists, and other interested parties who would like to partner on the ground to reach out to cannescomms@stagwellglobal.com for more information. Sport Beach will be produced by TEAM Enterprises in partnership with Cheerful Twentyfirst.
About Stagwell
Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Media Contact
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com
SOURCE Stagwell Inc.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_football
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Flores_Arenas
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
NOTE: Very important, whenever you are engaging in a new exercise or sport for the first time, please consult with your physician first.
