Flag football takes flight as young Aussie athletes compete in China

A team of high school athletes has travelled from the Gold Coast to China to compete against some of the world's best NFL flag football players.

The fast-emerging sport is a non-contact take on the United States's most beloved game and looks a bit like OzTag.

Teams of five run plays to pass a football down the field in the hope of scoring touchdowns, pulling flags from the belt of their opponents to stop play.

Khodi Fabian, 15, had spent most of her life excelling at Australian sports, including touch football, before putting on the flag belt.

Khodi plays the role of wide receiver, catching long balls down the field thrown by the quarterback.

"I never thought I'd get into NFL. My life has been all touch," she said.

Despite that, the teen didn't shy away from the new sport, and represented Queensland in a competition earlier this year.

Kodhi is among 10 Palm Beach-Currumbin State High School students competing in this weekend's NFL Flag Asia Pacific Championship in Shanghai.

The team is the only Australian side invited to play in the competition.

"It's really fun to do something different, especially since it's a new sport. It's exciting to play," Khodi said.

Rapid growth on way to Olympics

Flag football will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028, generating rapid growth in participation since the move was announced in 2023.

The fast-approaching showcase has prompted major investment by the NFL in Australia, headquartered on the Gold Coast.

A 2022 pilot of 10 local schools helped the sport gather steam, before it was expanded to 750 schools across Australia with free flag kits announced by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in April.

"There's over 20 million people playing in a very short period of time. By the time we get to [Brisbane] 2032 that number will be exponentially higher," Mr Goodell said.

Teacher Bindy McCormack agreed the growth had been rapid.

After first seeing the game three years ago during state championships on the Gold Coast, Ms McCormack said she was hooked.

"We took a team to compete and we'd never played before, we just learnt on the run," the coach said.

"We ended up winning and there were lots of selectors, lots of talk about the opportunities moving forward, so I think that locked me in to embed it within the school."

Fun keeps girls playing sport

NFL Australia and New Zealand general manager Charlotte Offord said the league was footing the bill for the team of 10 plus two coaches to travel and compete in the one-day international event.

She said the investment aimed to break down barriers for women in sport and create more pathways for young people, regardless of the outcome of the China championship.

"There's US colleges for young athletes to go and play flag now," Ms Offord said.

"We've recently announced we'll launch a professional flag league in the next five years … where people will be paid to play in the US."

Coco Gillett, 13, plays centre for the team heading abroad and said she had been "gobsmacked" to get a call-up to compete internationally.

Despite the difference to her usual sports, Coco said the culture of the game had helped her enjoy playing flag.

"All coming together and scoring and having fun with your friends … there's lots of celebrating," she said.

Unlike some of her teammates, Coco will be too young to qualify for the LA Games in 2028, something she said would drive her to keep her sights set on the big leagues.

"The Olympics would be great … I just want to try and get better each year and progress," Coco said.