LA28 beckons for the world\u2019s best flag football stars<\/p>\n
In October 2023, flag football was added to the sports programme for the Olympic Games LA28, a landmark decision that immediately reshaped the sport\u2019s ambitions, as well as the ambitions of its players.<\/p>\n
For Nausicaa Dell\u2019Orto, a leader in Italy\u2019s squad, the thought of walking out with her \u201cpassionate\u201d Italian team at an Olympic Games carries emotional weight. \u201cI think I would look forward to having achieved a global dream of so many girls. You\u2019re not only representing your country, but you\u2019re representing all the girls who now can have a bigger dream in their sport<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Flores views LA28 as a chance to spread the love of flag football. \u201cFlag football can unite people,\u201d<\/strong> she said, adding that the Olympics will give those unfamiliar with the game a chance to \u201cexperience the greatness of it\u201d and join its growing global community. \u201cI think the Olympics are gonna be that big moment for the people who are not involved yet in this sport to be part.\u201d<\/p>\n That sense of inclusion runs through the entire squad, even for those still fighting for a place in the final line-up. Team USA\u2019s Ashlea Klam<\/strong> admits the competition for spots will be intense, but she is determined to be there in some capacity. \u201cI will be there whether I am on the roster or not<\/strong>, representing or supporting USA and all of flag football,\u201d she said. For her, simply being part of the occasion would be a career highlight.<\/p>\n The anticipation is just as high in Great Britain\u2019s camp, though for different reasons. Schecter is drawn to the wider Olympic experience, particularly the Athletes Village, where sports and cultures mix in a way unique to multi-sport events. She imagines sharing meals with athletes like Simone Biles and introducing newcomers to flag football\u2019s \u201cenergy and vibe\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to be infectious,\u201d Schecter said in anticipation of LA28. \u201cThe energy, everybody who watches it, whether you know what\u2019s happening or not, you\u2019ll want to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LA28 beckons for the world\u2019s best flag football stars In October 2023, flag football was added to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-339490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115017980597389147","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}