In addition to Kwok, Senior Advisor for the NFL League Office Mike Daniels was in Ohio to oversee the weekend’s events. Daniels encouraged athletes to have conversations with their athletic directors about expanding their athletic programs to include flag football.

“It’s their biggest initiative at the league office and Ohio is the birthplace for NFL football, so it’s one of the most important states in the world. And so, when you start thinking about that piece of it, it’s important for Ohio to lead the charge and sanction girls flag,” Daniels said, adding that the league is aiming to have flag football be a fully-sanctioned sport by 2026.

The free clinic on July 18 featured position-specific drills, including passing, route running, flag pulling and agility and featured a flag football tournament in the afternoon.

Football is a pressure-inducing sport, requiring a myriad of different technical and mental strengths. Battle said that through learning the game of football, the young girls on the field Thursday were also learning lifelong skills to help them off the field.

“Confidence, number one,” Battle said. “You have some girls who may have never played a sport. And when I looked at them from the first day to the last, just seeing how some of them were able to catch a ball or weren’t afraid of pulling a flag. Just watching and seeing them build their confidence and grow each day and each week.”