EAGAN, Minn. – The energy throughout TCO Stadium was contagious.

Twelve girls flag football teams converged at the Vikings team facility this summer for an all-day tournament. The competition was fierce, but a sense of unity also bonded the young women.

"It's just a really great experience playing with all the girls," said 12-year-old Anna, a Justice Page Middle School student and first-year flag football athlete. "Normally football is a male sport, so making it an all-female sport, too, has been really great."

Anna's sentiments were echoed by Dede, 13, who played for the Olson Middle School team.

"I think it's important because it gives girls the opportunity to do what they like," Dede said. "Most schools don't have football teams for girls, and I think it's a really great opportunity to grow this sport."

While the Vikings youth football department supports girls teams and boys teams of all ages, they and the NFL have especially focused on the growth of girls flag. The Vikings have been working to foster a passion for girls flag in Minnesota middle schools with the goal of the sport becoming sanctioned at the high school level.

Vikings Youth and High School Football Coordinator Emily Weinberg explained the importance of creating a pathway for young women interested in the sport.

"Our thought was, if we start at the middle school level, they're going to hopefully want to continue playing. And then eventually they'll go on to high school, and they'll be able to take advantage of postsecondary opportunities that come through flag football – and, who knows, maybe go to the Olympics one day," Weinberg said. "We're trying to start it from the grassroots level in that way."

Flag football was approved in October 2023 by the International Olympic Committee as an official Olympic sport that will make its debut at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Opportunities around flag football continue to grow around the country and world, and the Vikings are proud to advance that progress.

"I think it's important that we're able to put our brand behind this and show the Vikings are fully supporting these girls who want to go out and try a new sport," Weinberg said. "One interesting fact is that 50 percent of girls who play flag football aren't involved in any other sport. So being able to provide this opportunity through the Vikings, to get involved in a team sport and reap all those benefits that come with being a part of a sport, where maybe they wouldn't have had that experience otherwise, is really important to us."

St. Anthony Village Head Coach Jesse Haas shares a similar desire to introduce young women to the sport.

Haas had very little football experience herself when in 2020 she decided to try out for the Minnesota Vixen, a professional women's tackle football team. Already in her mid-30s, Haas learned the sport and fallen in love with it.

"I'd never even touched a football before," she said. "When the Vixen look for players and you do the combine, they're looking just for athleticism, and then they seek to teach you everything after that.

"That has been a real benefit as a coach," Haas continued. "Same thing – we're dealing with a lot of girls who have never had the opportunity to play, but they're 14 years old and they need to learn it from the ground up – and that's exactly what the Vixen have to do with a lot of players. So it's been a real parallel experience."

Haas noted the broad spectrum of experience on her team and many others, as well.

"We have some girls who have played flag football with the boys, and we have some girls who have played tackle football with the boys, then all the way to the other end of the spectrum – never held a football before in their life," she said. "So it's been [great] to see them all come together and work together."

For Keke, the 2024 flag season was her first – but it certainly won't be her last. The 13-year-old helped Team Justice Page pull out a 2-point win in the final seconds of a game, while Vikings Ring of Honor member and Pro Football Hall of Famer Alan Page – the middle school's namesake – watched from nearby bleachers.

"It's been really great. I really appreciate the people who let us play at the Vikings facility. The game we just won, it was really shocking," Keke recounted excitedly. "The first half, it was 0-0 and we were worried we weren't going to win. … I'm really proud of our team.

"The biggest thing I've learned [this season] is that a lot of people are going to tear you down, especially since you're playing football," she added. "They're going to tell you, 'Oh, that's not a girls' sport. You can't play that.' But you just need to go out there and prove them wrong."

While co-ed teams can provide equally positive experiences for youth, Haas pointed out the intentional timing of middle school for the all-girls flag teams.

"What we're seeing happening in other sports they play, around fifth grade, boys and girls will split," Haas said. "So I think to make football successful and allow it to continue at the high school level for girls, we need to give them a space of their own to play alongside one another."

Haas and many others are grateful to the Vikings for their role in growing flag football for youth across the state – and specifically for young women.

"Just like young boys, girls love watching football, too. They grew up with the Vikings as a household name, they have their favorite players, they watch with their mom and dad," Haas said. "They look up to a lot of the players in the organization. So to feel that the Vikings are willing to invest in you is something that's really, really important to them."