The Olympics are not like every other wearing opposition on this planet. Over three hundred activities represented 35 sports, each for sixteen days. S. A. On this planet, they compete to take their prized medals, and I have seemed ahead to watching the Summer Olympics every four years for as long way again as I can take into account. But there’s usually been something missing. One of the United States’ most famous sports activities and a top 10 sport in the course of the sector, it seems as if even though address and flag football might be Olympic sports activities by way of the year 2024, issue boundaries nonetheless continue to be for that to end up a reality. First, we will walk through some motives as to why the street to getting American Football protected into the Olympics has no longer been a clean adventure, observed via why we consider flag football the logical answer and choice as a future Olympic recreation.
WHY ISN’T AMERICAN FOOTBALL ALREADY AN OLYMPIC SPORT?
According to an editorial by way of NFL.Com, the largest logistical issues dealing with the game of American Football being protected in the Olympics are similar to those of Rugby. With many contributors on each crew, the “gender equality” formats wherein both women and men participate in every recreation and the compressed three-week timetable would be hard with a more physical game like football and Rugby. Furthermore, the entry barrier for American Football is high because it is valuable to equip all gamers with pads and tools. Therefore, it has also been slow to adopt in many overseas international locations, particularly in the poorer range.
Knowing all this, it is hard to peer how both games would be excellent for the Summer Olympics. Rugby is lots of Soccer, and very little is wanted to play the sport in terms of gear and exercise. It is the base level and has a much larger global following. This, among other motives, has these days allowed Rugby to be cleared for the Olympics starting in 2016 via changing the traditional fashion to a much less conventional “sevens” format that is quicker paced with fewer humans, which could assist in carving a comparable route for American Football or flag Soccer greater particularly.
TACKLE SAFETY CONCERNS
Even increasingly high faculty, college, and pro groups are beginning to lessen the number of contact practices, still carrying the likes of soft-padded headgear and shoulder pads for introduced safety. But what if we should limit the contact gamers see before excessive school and middle faculty while also addressing a number of the issues for the sport related to it being generic into the Olympics? There have been several communications lately revolving around the safety of tackle soccer, and now not just within the NFL, where concussions are a primary subject. Starting a long way returned as young people’s football level, the latest proof has surfaced supporting the idea that even brief concussions, repeated head influences, and collisions can occur in similar brain injuries later in life for children tested between a long time of eight-13. Many researchers suggest youngsters should not play football in any respect, suggesting that their heads are “a bigger part of their frame, and their necks are not as robust as adults. So kids can be at an extra hazard of head and mind injuries than adults.”
DREW BREES BELIEVES FLAG FOOTBALL CAN SAVE FOOTBALL
As of 2015, research has shown that flag football is the fastest-developing sport for young people in the United States, greatly outpacing the boom of conventional address soccer. Many character-excessive colleges are switching to flag soccer over tackle, getting other schools of their regions to observe and creating organized leagues and divisions. It’s even an officially diagnosed varsity game in many states. With girls specifically, flag football is a manner to allow less difficult participation than the bodily nature of the address. And he is now not the only one. Recently, Drew Brees was interviewed via Peter King for NBC’s pregame show, and he had a few sturdy phrases about why he believes flag football is the answer. “I feel like flag soccer can store football,” Brees stated.
Brees coached his son’s flag soccer crew and performed flag soccer himself through junior high, but he did not play tackle football until high college. “I sense like (flag football) is an outstanding introductory approach for many youngsters into football,” Brees said. “Otherwise, I sense it is spotless to go in and have an awful enjoyment early on, after which I no longer want to play it again. I experience that once you position the pads on, there are so many different factors to the game, and you’re at the mercy of the train in many cases, too. And honestly, I don’t assume sufficient coaches are well-versed regarding the proper basics of the sport, particularly while the pads pass on on the youngster’s level.” Many different pro athletes and coaches have expressed comparable sentiments, making a song praising flag soccer, and the upward thrust in popularity of the game echoes that.
Flag football is not a fluke or only a leisure development device that feeds into tackle soccer; it’s a full-fledged motion with personal identity and cause, and it is time we diagnosed that difference.
Internationally, it’s miles gaining recognition nicely, and it appears much faster than conventional American football, wherein the barrier to access is much better with the need for complete pads and gear. In Mexico, for instance, flag soccer is booming in recognition, wherein most consider it the #2 recreation to Soccer and last rapid, with an anticipated 2.5 million youngsters participating just on the elementary school degree. International groups are beginning to experience many of the more famous American flag soccer tournaments, with illustrations from Panama, Indonesia, Bahamas, Mexico, Canada, and more commonplace incidents.
Everywhere you look, participation and hobby in the game flag football are exploding.
At the adult stage, it changed into a report of 12 months for flag soccer. New major tournaments are popping up worldwide, and thousands of groups compete across all age businesses, formats, and patterns. Cash prizes had been at an all-time high, anticipated to eclipse over $ hundred 000 in team giveaways in the subsequent calendar 12 months. Sponsors have started taking notice as nicely, with EA Sports, Nerf, Hotels.Com, Red Bull, and the most important brands seeing the price and growth from flag football to attain their target audience in big numbers successfully. Women’s participation is at an all-time high, mirroring its reputation on the teen stage. It is the preferred play layout for American Soccer in most Central to South American international locations.
How does this lead to returning to the Olympics and getting American Soccer blanketed as a reliable game? First, let’s assess a bit of record on where the sport stands today with the International Olympic Committee or IOC.
Historically, To be blanketed into the Olympic games as an illustration game, you have to have an International Federation and have held a World Championship competition. This should take place at least six years before scheduled Olympic video games. The International Federation of American Football, commonly centered on addressing Soccer, consists of the flag in its event lineup. It met this trend, became authorized in 2012, and gained provisional popularity in 2014. This could pave the manner for American football to be protected as an authentic sport and flag soccer as, in all likelihood, an area of stated sport. Still, the IFAF has faced setbacks because of alleged scandals, occasion mismanagement, and misappropriation of the price range that can not bode nicely for the sport’s inclusion brief term. Fortunately, in 2007, the IOC followed a new, extra-flexible rule set permitting applications to be up for evaluation after each Olympics beginning in 2020, clearing a route for all sports activities to present their case for being protected by prevailing a simple majority vote.
S, the possibility existse for American football to becoveredd inside the most prestigious sporting occasion around the sector; however, how can we triumph over the boundaries offeredbya the game’s structure to match the mold of a hit Olympicsportingg occasion?
FLAG FOOTBALL IS THE KEY TO OLYMPIC INCLUSION
There may be flag soccer for every manner tackle football doesn’t match the mold as a logical preference for the IOC. Here are the top four motives flag football needs to be considered to be covered as the subsequent Olympic recreation.
1. It’s Less Physically Demanding than Tackle Football
As we’ve already set up, flag football is a much more secure opportunity than address football. Fewer hits and collisions, fewer accidents, and flag football is already a proven achievement model. It’s being praised for retaining the game for future generations. But about the Summer Olympic Games, safety is just one element of the game’s physical demands, considering you’ve got much less than a 3-week window to be healthy in all competition ranges, and the 12 months-spherical activity had to practice and qualify. Imagine gambling 6-7 complete touch football games with a limited roster, all inside a span of ~16 days, now not to say different viable qualifying events in the year. For flag soccer, it is not uncommon to play 6-7 games on the weekend or every so often, even an afternoon, so the game is more geared up for this fashion play.
2. International Flag Football Interest is Exploding
As stated above, that is the main problem while determining whether recreation should be considered. While conventional American fashion addresses Soccer as extraordinarily popular globally, flag football appeals to greater nations. It’s a decreased barrier to entry as far as price and gadget move, doesn’t require complete length and striped soccer fields to take part, and is easier to keep larger match competitions and leagues to inspire neighborhood interest.
3. It Requires Fewer Participants
Depending on which layout would be used (our guess is either 5v5 or 7v7), flag soccer calls for fewer members than conventional address football. Part of that is because it is a less bodily disturbing sport and the want for fewer substitutions. Any other element desires fewer professional gamers, including kickers, punters, special groups, offensive linemen, etc. Where every conventional address soccer group might, in all likelihood, convey 50+ competitors, flag soccer could want, in all probability, 15 players at maximum, cutting that range too much less than a 3rd. This is important because the Olympics cap their general contributors to ten 500 athletes and coaches. It also permits greater nations to compete, especially poorer countries, wherein fielding a smaller and much less financially worrying crew coupled with the above reasons makes greater sense.
4. It’s Not Just a Men’s Sport
Gender equality is a main emphasis of the IOC. The 2012 Summer Olympics marked the first time all sports included competing girls in their class. Today, any new game introduced to the Olympic Games needs to encompass both male and female members. There are no longer almost enough hobbies from women participators for tackling football to make the experience for tackle football. Some female players, or even some ladies who tackle football leagues and businesses, don’t match the mold, specifically with the opposite physicality and barrier to access issues. This isn’t a trouble for flag soccer pa,rticularly above, with lady participation booming internationally.
NEXT STEPS FOR FLAG FOOTBALL AND OLYMPIC INCLUSION
So, how will we take the following steps to ride the momentum of flag soccer straight into the following available Olympic video games? The IFAF has already helped start the manner of having the sport of American Football on the IOC’s front in recent years, but with their public issues and reputedly no movement when you consider that 2014, greater needs to be done keep shifting ahead. We understand that flag football is being taken severely in any respect levels for the first time in records, with important businesses making moves to get greater into the flag football area and the advent of larger and extra international activities to gas the sport. We accept as true that either on it is own or as a field of tackle football, flag football WILL be included in the Olympics at some stage in the next 10-twenty years.
