There are girls in every community itching to play flag football. How can it be organized? Do they have equipment? Are there enough players? Well, the Eagles provided the opportunity and girls arrived at Lincoln Financial Field by the numbers.
The Eagles Girls Flag Football Jamboree was hosted on March 5 for local high school teams to kick off the inaugural season.
"It's critical to remove the barriers that keep girls from playing sports and football in particular," Eagles SVP Media & Marketing Jen Kavanagh said. "Our motivation and where we invested our time and energy was really in understanding what those obstacles are, and how we can remove them."
Fourteen teams from across the Philadelphia region received new jerseys hanging in the Eagles' locker room, participated in player photoshoots, and finally took the field for a scrimmage. Family and friends were in the stands to watch their girls make history.
Archbishop Wood High School's Head Coach Donna Ellis said, "We're going to be the trailblazers to make Girls Flag Football really special and something that is really coveted and people want to watch. When you have the support of someone like the NFL, this isn't going away."
As part of Eagles Inaugural High School Level Girls Flag Football program, the Eagles proudly hosted the Girls Flag Football Jamboree at Lincoln Financial Field.
A member of SLA Beeber running with the ball
One of the perks of playing in the Girls Flag Football Jamboree was being able to use the Eagles locker room
A look at the Benjamin Rush jerseys hanging up in the locker room
A couple of Benjamin Rush players enjoying the locker room
A look at the Dobbins Mustangs jerseys in the locker room
A St. Hubert jersey in the Eagles locker room
Archbishop Ryan jerseys in the Eagles locker room
The Swenson Jaguars
The Dobbins Mustangs
The Electrons of Benjamin Franklin
The Frankford Pioneers
The Bambies of St. Hubert
The Hawks of Hill-Freedman
The Palumbo Griffins
The Jaguars of Motivation High School
The Crusaders of Lansdale Catholic
The Archbishop Wood Vikings
The Rockets of SLA Beeber
The Archbishop Ryan Raiders
A Lansdale Catholic player doing a backflip during team introductions
Palumbo taking the field
South Philadelphia taking the field
St. Hubert running onto the field at Lincoln Financial Field
Archbishop Ryan taking the field
Benjamin Rush taking the field
Benjamin Franklin having fun while taking the field
Dobbins running onto the field
Leaping for extra yardage
The Swenson quarterback taking the snap
A Swenson ballcarrier moving the ball down the field
A Frankford Pioneer looking to make a play
A member of St. Hubert looking for room to run
A Swenson trying to escape the St. Hubert defense
St. Hubert quarterback looking to let it fly
An Archbishop Wood player on the move
A member of the Dobbins Mustangs looking to make something happen
A member of Archbishop Ryan pulling away from the pack
A Hill-Freedman player making her way down the field
A pair of Archbishop Ryan players celebrating a big play
A Dobbins player running away from the Hill-Freedman defense
A Lansdale Catholic player fighting for extra yards
A South Philadelphia player making moves
A Motivation player running through the South Philadelphia defense
Archbishop Ryan players celebrating a big play
All gas and no brakes for the Lansdale Catholic player
Raise your hand if you love playing in the Girls Flag Football Jamboree
What a catch
A Palumbo player looking for room to run
An SLA Beeber player fighting for every inch
What a tremendous day at the Eagles Girls Flag Football Jamboree
Ellis herself certainly isn't going anywhere as she had a waitlist of girls interested in joining the team. She describes her group as "eclectic" and open to any young woman who wants to participate. Ellis plans to take it a step further with hopes to build the team its own field. She said with the help of her players, husband, and a local landscaper who is donating time, this team is ready to level the playing field … literally.
"We're going to do something special because we're making history," Ellis said. "It builds self-esteem, camaraderie. I can see it already – when they put those uniforms on, their self-esteem went up three points."
The Girls Flag Football Jamboree is step one in chasing a much larger goal:
"I'm hoping to get the state of Pennsylvania to 100 teams so that this is officially recognized as a sanctioned sport," Kavanagh said. "I think for these women anything truly is possible, and everything that we can do to just normalize, organize, and invest in that is what we'll continue to do."
The Eagles organization is standing tall in its support of not only the first group of Girls Flag Football players in the area, but for the flag football players to come.
"We view ourselves as connectors to this whole community, so playing this role to provide this access – it was so important because we set the standard here in Philadelphia," Dan Levy, Youth Football and Community Relations Manager for the Eagles said. "We want to form as a pillar of this sport here in our home arena at Lincoln Financial Field."
