Bengals Host First-Annual Girls Flag Football Jamboree at Paycor Stadium

To jumpstart the flag football programs at these six schools, the Bengals provided a startup grant to each institution in addition to USA Football equipment and Nike uniforms in preparation for the first year of games and team practices, which have already begun in preparation for their pilot season in spring 2024.

“As a woman in football, seeing this is amazing,” Blackburn said. “It makes me, my mom, my sister, the whole Bengals organization and all of my fellow female executives so proud to see this amazing turnout today. We’re really excited to see the sport grow over time, too.”

Coach Taylor emphasized that flag is an effective introduction to football and echoed the beneficial lessons the sport can teach.

“I have two young girls, and they will be out here playing flag football one day,” Taylor said. “It teaches you how to catch, it teaches you how to communicate, it teaches you how to cover. It teaches you all as teammates and as coaches to get out there and problem solve.”

The day’s skill clinic was led by USA Football staff and volunteers, including local professional women’s tackle football players from the Cincinnati Cougars of the Women’s Football Alliance. USA Football, the national governing body of American football in the United States, works to promote tackle and flag football around the country. The non-profit partners with NFL teams, including the Bengals, to host flag football events and provides resources to coaches and parents such as rulebooks, playbooks and health and safety materials. Around a dozen NFL teams have now hosted a jamboree-type event in their local markets, and in total, USA Football has introduced over 25,000 girls across 900 schools nationwide to the flag game in the last 12 months.