TAMPA, Fla. — This week marks the kickoff of the sixth Buccaneers Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic. It’s the largest girls' flag football tournament in the country, with 109 teams from across Florida scheduled to compete.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have consistently led the way among NFL franchises that promote women’s participation in sports- on all levels.
"We’ve always believed in women in sports. The Buccaneers have always held that in very high regard,” Bucs co-owner Darcie Glazer Kassewitz said at the event’s opening night ceremony. "We’re just so happy that flag football is really growing at the pace that it is. It really gives women an opportunity to get in the game.”
More than 2,000 players will take part in the event, giving them a springboard to help continue their football careers after high school.
"I’ve played flag football since I was in third grade. I’ve always dreamed to be able to go to a college level. And I’m committed to [Warner University], finally, for flag football,” Strawberry Crest High School running back/linebacker Carson Buttram said. "And I’m really excited to be able to participate in opportunites like this, in the Bucs tournament, able to hopefully go to the national level.”
Flag football is exploding on the national level, with the USA Football organization leading the charge. This October, flag football was added to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
"This is just crazy, where it’s going, and how fast it’s growing, globally,” said Team USA women’s quarterback Vanita Krouch. "It’s crazy that the Olympics is behind this now- and the NFL, the biggest powerhouse of sport.”
Krouch, who’s won two world championships with Team USA, hopes her accomplishments help pave the way for a generation that’s on the ground level of sports history. She was a panelist at the opening night ceremony - wearing a gold medal around her neck.
“Going to camps and having those athletes come and speak. It just resonates, and it builds a foundation that you don’t realize it does,” she added. "I hope moments like these will pay it forward towards the girls."
“I love to follow in the footsteps of anyone going into the career and being at the national level for the Women’s National Team,” Buttram added. "You can do as much as boys can do. You’re just as good as boys - if not even a little bit better at some sports - and I think it’s just something really cool.”
The tournament runs through Saturday at the Ed Radice Sports Complex in Tampa.
The Buccaneers also announced that they will host the FHSAA Girls Flag Football Championship May 10-11 at the AdventHealth Training Center.
