Northwood, Ealing Fields Celebrate Success As Jets & Bears Help Deliver Second Season of Girls' NFL Flag Football League In London
By Simon Carroll
The New York Jets and the Chicago Bears celebrated the success of the second year of Jets and Bears NFL Girls Flag league in an action-packed Championship Event at AFC Wimbledon’s Cherry Red Records Stadium in London on Monday.
The Jets and Bears program, in its second year in the capital, engaged 240 UK girls, aged 12-14, through NFL Flag, the non-contact version of American football that encourages team work on and off the field. Together, the girls plan and execute winning plays, building life-long skills in strategy, communication, and resilience, and can promote healthy mental wellbeing for the future.
Ealing Fields, Northwood Crowned Champions
The Jets and Bears program, in its second year in the capital, engaged 240 UK girls, aged 12-14, through NFL Flag, the non-contact version of American football that encourages team work on and off the field. Together, the girls plan and execute winning plays, building life-long skills in strategy, communication, and resilience, and can promote healthy mental wellbeing for the future.
The championship event marked the culmination of a six-week league, comprised of two conferences of twelve teams, with the Jets and Bears each running a conference. Throughout the duration of the league, the girls received multiple bespoke coaching sessions from qualified NFL Flag coaches, along with individual branded kits, from league presenting partner Nike.
At the festival event Northwood were crowned champions of the Bears’ conference defeating Beaconsfield 22-8. Meanwhile in the Jets’ conference inaugural winners Ealing Fields defended their title with a 28-6 win over St Mary Magdelene.
Former Bears’ cornerback Jerry Azumah and former Jets’ running back Tony Richardson were in attendance to hand over the trophies to the winning teams and offer words of encouragement throughout the day.
Off-field the girls, their family and friends, were able to experience a traditional American tailgate, enjoying a range of food, DJ, hair braiding and classic garden games such as cornhole and giant Jenga.
Increasing Flag Exposure - To Everyone
The two respective champions from the Girls Flag league will receive an invite as special guests to the 2024 NFL London Games where the Jets and Bears will both play at Tottenham Hotspur Stadum. The Jets play the Vikings on October 6 before the Bears take on the Jaguars the following weekend on October 13.
The Jets and Bears NFL Girls Flag league was launched to introduce and give girls access to a new sport, overcome barriers in physical activity and for the teams to continue to grow their fanbases in the UK, where they have marketing rights through the NFL’s Global Markets Program. The Program awards NFL clubs rights to build brand awareness and fandom beyond the U.S. through fan engagement, events and commercial opportunities.
Jesse Linder, VP of Community Relations for the Jets, was proud of the culmination of anothoer season of Flag Football in the UK’s capital:
“Days like today are exactly why we kicked off this fantastic flag football league for these girls. We’ve seen the girls grow as players on the field as well creating a community off of it. Flag football is one of the best sports for young girls, and it’s been a privilege to make this league work again with the Bears.”
Matt Simeone, Chicago Bears’ Director of Community & Alumni Relations, agreed, and was keen for more opportunities to be available to those interested in taking up the sport:
“We want to ensure that girls in the UK have similar accessibility to American Flag Football as girls in the US. This league was another example of the wonderful impact flag football can have on young girls. They gain transferable skills from taking part in Flag Football they will take with them moving forward.”
Following another successful season, both teams are already planning their growth ambitions for 2025 and beyond.
To find out more about the League results, please visit www.chicagobears.com and https://nyjetsinuk.com/girls-flag. To know more about NFL Flag in the UK, please visit https://www.nfl.com/uk/nfl-flag.
