On this day last year, we launched the inaugural Jets & Bears NFL Girls Flag League, and I saw 120 girls from 9 schools join a sport that 95% of them had never played before. Watching them grow through that league was inspirational.
2nd year now upon us, and yesterday we welcomed over 240 girls to the 2024 launch event for the new league - expanding to 24 schools. It was incredible to see so many girls return from last year and a whole bunch of new faces, most of whom had never touched an American Football before.
Incredibly proud of the team for pulling this one together. We had an on-field session of Flag Drills, with our awesome coaches guiding the girls on the first step of their journey, and added in a few combine stations to put them to the test.
Off-field, the girls got to experience a multitude of activations - 360 booth to create & share some fire content; mosaic board capturing all their faces to paint up the league logo; photos of last year’s league for returning girls to look back on and new girls to look forward to; a gallery wall of inspirational quotes from women in sport, and opportunities for the girls to sign into the league and write in their thoughts; a journalism session to explore the wealth of opportunities within sport, and of course a meet and greet with some special guests, alongside some cornhole and shuffleboard games!
We were also able to brand up the AFC Wimbledon Locker room, to give that experience to these girls, to show off their kits with all participating teams. Topped off with one girl from each team changing into the kit and being cheered out of the tunnel to the pitch by their teammates.
Incredibly proud of this one, a fair few late evenings with Andrea Calles Smith were needed, this was such an important opportunity for so many people and a personal passion for both of us to get just right.
Looking forward to seeing the growth of these girls within the sport again, and proud to play a part in it. What a way to commemorate International Women’s Day ❤️
Playmaker Experiential, Andrea Calles Smith, Louise Grace Currie, James Gregory, Ian Hayne, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, NFL UK