As Bob and Gennine Berwald sat at their kitchen table, surrounded by their three children, their daughter Alexis handed them an orange-wrapped box with a brown bow.
Inside the box contained two tickets to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, as well as a letter from the Browns. As they read the letter, which expressed gratitude for the work Bob and Gennine Berwald have done to grow flag football in the state of Ohio through Northeast Ohio Flag Football, they were in disbelief.
"We don't do these things to get these things like this, we just do it because we love the sport," Gennine Berwald said. "We do it because we want to give kids the experience that maybe we didn't have growing up, and to see that be acknowledged, it's overwhelming. We're very thankful for the support the Browns have given."
Bob and Gennine Berwald have played an integral role in improving the game of flag football to Northeast Ohio and in the growth of girls flag football in the state of Ohio.
Northeast Ohio Flag Football was started in 2016 by Bob Berwald and other high school football coaches. Bob has served on the Mentor High School football coaching staff since 2003, and along with his former high school head football coach Don Schutz, used their contacts around the area to form the league to teach youth the basic skills of football in a positive and professional environment. Bob Berwald said they wanted to promote a positive environment for young athletes K-8 who wanted to learn and play flag football.
Schutz serves as the President and Co-Founder of Northeast Ohio Flag Football, while Bob Berwald serves as the Vice President and Co-Founder of Northeast Ohio Flag Football and Gennine Berwald is the Treasurer.
When they first started the league, Bob said they had about 120 athletes among 14 teams. Each year, the numbers jumped. In 2017, there were 400 athletes. In the fall of 2024, Bob Berwald said they had about 900 kids, and as they prepare for the 2025 spring session, Bob Berwald said they are anticipating around 2,000 kids.
"People were finding that the experience we were providing was a much better experience, and it was exactly what we wanted it to be," Bob Berwald said. "It was something that we used all of our knowledge and backgrounds with dealing with youth sports firsthand to coaching. Kind of tied everything together and made sure we did it for the right reasons, and it's kind of grown up since then."
They decided to introduce girls flag football in 2021 to the Northeast Ohio Flag Football league after conversations in 2020 about how to expand their reach. With the introduction as a rec portion of the league, they saw an increase in the numbers of girls participating. In the first season, they had about 90 girls participate.
The Browns implementation of high school girls flag football began in the fall of 2021 alongside Northeast Ohio Flag Football. In 2021, the program began with athletes from four high schools who formed two teams.
The Browns high school girls flag football programming, presented by Gatorade and in association with Bridgestone, aims to provide access and opportunities for high school female student-athletes to compete in and experience the fastest growing sport of flag football. By providing resources and information to players, coaches and parents the Browns can help expand their knowledge of the game and provide opportunities through the Cleveland Browns, USA Football, NFL FLAG and the NFL.
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.
The Browns created the first high school girls flag football division in Ohio in 2022, and the program expanded to nine teams in 2022. It then jumped to a total of 30 teams the following year in 2023. The division has continued to grow, as in 2024, the program housed 51 teams across Northeast Ohio.
As the division has grown, the Browns have hosted the Northeast Ohio Girls High School Flag Football Championship Tournament at Huntington Bank Field in 2022 and 2024 – and are set to host once again in 2025. Different high school girls flag football teams played at halftime during the preseason home games of the 2024 season. They also played during halftime at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Aug. 2024.
"Just watching from the sidelines, because we're there every game just to make sure things are running smoothly. So, we get to watch all of this, and the girls' passion and energy is just amazing to watch," Gennine Berwald said. "It's such a great camaraderie that they have built in the short time that they have. The season is not very long, but it's long enough for these guys to connect and have these friendships outside of the football field."
Together, the Browns and Northeast Ohio Flag Football have been working to elevate girls flag football to promote equality in sports offered at the high school level. Ultimately, the Browns are focused on creating a pathway for high school girls flag football to become a sanctioned varsity sport under the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA).
It's also the goal of Bob and Gennine Berwald to see high school girls flag football become a sanctioned varsity sport. Bob Berwald noted how there are 13 states across the country that have high school girls flag football as a sanctioned sport, and he wants the same opportunity for their female athletes.
"They are a part of history here," Gennine Berwald said. "I don't know that they know that now. I don't know if it's actually sunk in now; but I think that when they look back maybe even five years from now, when this is actually full blown taken off, they're going to be like, 'We were a part of this, we started this.' So, I think giving them that opportunity early on is something that we're proud of."
And the Browns have continued to make progress in their efforts toward sanctioning.
In discussions with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) in 2023 the Brown were informed that a key next step in the sanctioning process would be the creation of a coaches association. In the spring of 2024, the Browns held an initial conversation with the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association (OHSFCA) ahead of their third quarter board meeting.
During that meeting, the Browns presented high school girls flag football to the board, which resulted in a motion to officially include the sport in the association.
The motion passed, and the Browns are now a part of the Board of Directors for the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association (OHSFCA), which is governed by a board of directors representing high school coaches from across Ohio. They are divided in 18 regions, with the Browns representing Region 18. As board members, the Browns serve as the liaison between the OHSFCA and the sport statewide.
Their region was added in the summer of 2024 and are the only NFL club that sits on a board for a high school football coaches association. Their inclusion represents high school girls flag football, and gives them a seat at the table as part of the continued efforts towards sanctioning of girls flag football as a varsity sport.
As Board Directors for Region 18, the Browns collaborate with the OHSFCA to develop coaches' clinics, all-star games and other opportunities for growth and development. Additionally, they are working to form a committee with new high school girls flag football coaches that will oversee resources, programs and initiatives for athletes and coaches statewide.
"We are on a mission to elevate high school girls flag football to a varsity sport in Ohio, empowering young women to wear their school colors with pride," Browns youth football manager Hannah Lee said. "It's not just a game; it's a movement. Flag football fosters resilience, teamwork, and leadership qualities that will serve them well beyond the field. By championing this sport, we are not only paving the way for college scholarships but also igniting dreams of representing our nation at the LA 2028 Olympics. It is essential that we create a landscape where every young girl can choose her athletic path and pursue her passion with confidence."
