As athletes from Berea-Midpark's girls flag football took the field at Berea-Midpark High School, they ran through individual warmup drills. Then, they entered the locker room to prepare and grab their uniforms and flag belts before taking the field again to run through a series of plays.
All the while, the girls were a part of an exclusive shoot coordinated by the Browns for a brand spot to highlight the game of flag football, with efforts in sharing the game with athletes, coaches and athletic directors around the state of Ohio.
"They were pumped," Berea-Midpark's boys varsity head football coach and girls flag football head coach Jon Hunek said. "Just to see how cool it is to spotlight the girls and anything you do to put an emphasis how great our kids are here in our school district it's really fantastic. So, it's just really, really cool. I was just really excited to see our girls get some attention for all the hard work they do and what great kids they are."
Berea-Midpark launched their girls flag football program in the spring of 2024. Hunek said a handful of girls first approached him and Berea-Midpark Athletic Director John Justice about the potential of starting a girls flag football team in January of 2024.
When they officially launched the program, Justice said they had about 30 girls participate. Hunek assumed the role of head coach for the program, and some of his assistant coaches for the varsity boys football team also served as assistants for girls flag.
As Berea-Midpark is gearing up for their second season, Hunek said they've already had about 60 girls show interest in playing flag football in the spring of 2025. There's also a desire from athletes returning from the first year to now win after the success they said in their inaugural season.
Both Hunek and Justice see the continued growth of the program as a positive. Not only does it provide high school female athletes with the opportunity to play flag football, but also the potential beyond high school.
"We see our female athletes have these opportunities, and especially as an athletic director, you just see what an opportunity like this can provide our girls," Justice said. "You see our girls playing, and you realize, it's a great sport, and it's awesome that they're having this opportunity to participate in it. With the way that it's trending, this is going to not only provide just experience and participation opportunities, but potentially opportunities that go beyond high school for them. As this continues to grow, whether there's collegiate opportunities, obviously, there's going to be Olympic opportunities in four years, and we're excited to be on the front end of it."
Just as Berea-Midpark is increasing opportunities for more girls to participate on their girls flag football team, the Browns are continuing their efforts to showcase girls flag football as a legitimate competitive sport. They believe girls flag deserves the same recognition as other varsity sports, providing girls with a pathway to pursue their playing careers at both collegiate and professional levels.
As the Browns look to continuing growing girls high school flag football, they invite female athletes to start a team at their respective high schools. By continued expansion of the sport for female athletes, the Browns are working to provide girls with a seat at the table in the world of football.
"We are so excited to highlight girls flag football in this new video and showcase how we are working to create more opportunities for girls to play the sport, especially with the 2028 Olympic Games around the corner," Haslam Sports Group Vice President of Community Relations Jenner Tekancic said. "At the Browns, we are fully committed to supporting the growth of flag football, particularly at the high school level, and hope that this video can inspire more coaches, athletic directors, parents and athletes to start a team at their school."
The Browns began those efforts in 2021 alongside Northeast Ohio Flag Football, with the implementation of their girls high school flag football program, presented by Gatorade and in association with Bridgestone, in the region. They have since created the first Girls High School Flag Football division in Ohio in 2022.
Over the past four seasons, the number of Northeast Ohio high schools with teams has grown from two to 51. Ultimately, the Browns' goal is to create a pathway for girls high school flag football to become a sanctioned varsity sport under the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA).
In their collaboration with partners, Bridgestone provided the Browns with a $40,000 grant which will be used to cover the officiating fees for their Girls High School Flag Football league.
These fees, totaling $720 per team for a season of 12 games, are the largest remaining expense after the Browns cover uniforms and toolkits. With this funding, the Browns will support new high school teams, ensuring that officials are available for every game, allowing student-athletes to compete and thrive. This financial support is essential to maintaining and expanding the program, as schools cannot absorb these costs under their current budgets.
As flag football becomes one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, the Browns are determined to make Ohio the next state to sanction the sport at the high school level.
As of 2024, flag football is a sanctioned varsity sport in 13 U.S. states. During the 2023-24 season, 42,955 girls participated in flag football in high schools nationwide – a 105 percent increase from the previous year.
The sport continues to gain momentum as both men's and women's teams will be featured in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles for the first time in the competition's history. Its selection to be added to the Olympic Games came as the result of a thorough process and analysis based on evaluation criteria – including gender equality.
With its inclusion, it opens the door for more athletes to turn their love of the game into a collegiate and Olympic career. In order to do so, the participation in girls flag football needs to see consistent growth with an increase in teams and the eventual sanctioning of the sport in Ohio.
Through those steps and the efforts involved in promoting its sanctioning, the Browns are supporting flag football leading into the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
"With the 2028 Olympics welcoming flag football, the Browns have been, and continue to be, focused on creating and supporting pathways for boys and girls to learn and love the game," Tekancic said. "We know how important it is for girls to be able to play at the high school level and the passion we have to advance youth football in northeast Ohio and throughout the state has never been stronger, it will take all of us to make the sanctioning of high school girls flag football a reality."
