Emi Dahle lines up on the football field, waiting for the snap. When the play starts, she takes off. No one can catch her. The 14-year-old from North Carolina is smaller than most of the players on the field. But in her kind of football, that helps. “I’m small and shifty,” she says.

    Emi plays flag football. That’s a sport that looks a lot like tackle football. But in tackle football, the other team stops the action by tackling the person with the ball. In flag football, they pull a flag from the player’s belt. 

    Flag football is growing fast. Across the country, more and more kids are playing. High schools are adding teams, especially for girls. And in 2028, the sport will be part of the Summer Olympics. 

    Meanwhile, many parents are worried about the safety of tackle football. Some states have even proposed banning it for younger kids.

    Could flag football be the future of the sport?

    Emi Dahle lines up on the football field. She waits for the snap. The play starts. She takes off. No one can catch her. The 14-year-old from North Carolina is smaller than most of the other players. But in her kind of football, that helps. “I’m small and shifty,” she says.

    Emi plays flag football. This sport looks a lot like tackle football. But in tackle football, the other team tackles the person with the ball. In flag football, they pull a flag from the player’s belt.

    Flag football is growing fast. Across the country, more kids are playing. High schools are adding teams, especially for girls. And in 2028, it will be a sport in the Summer Olympics.

    Meanwhile, many parents worry about the safety of tackle football. Some states have proposed banning it for younger kids.

    Is flag football the future of the sport?

    Emi Dahle lines up on the football field and waits for the snap—and when the play starts, she takes off. No one can catch her. The 14-year-old from North Carolina is among the smaller players on the field, but in her kind of football, that’s an advantage. “I’m small and shifty,” she says.

    Emi plays flag football. That’s a sport that looks similar to tackle football, but in tackle football, the other team stops the action by tackling the person with the ball. In flag football, they pull a flag from the player’s belt.

    Flag football is growing fast. Across the country, increasing numbers of kids are playing and high schools are adding teams, especially for girls. And in 2028, the sport will make its Olympic debut at the Summer Games.

    Meanwhile, many parents are worried about the safety of tackle football. Some states have even proposed banning it for younger kids.

    Could flag football be the future of the sport?

    Flag football isn’t a new sport. It is believed to have started in the 1940s. Many American soldiers played it on military bases during World War II. They wanted to have fun but couldn’t risk getting hurt.

    Today a lot of kids feel the same way. Twelve-year-old Thaddeus Robinson has played both tackle football and flag football. 

    He says he enjoyed parts of tackle football. But he didn’t love how often kids got hurt. “I always came home with bruises,” he says. 

    And bruises are just part of it. Each year, thousands of kids get concussions while playing tackle football. These head injuries are caused by hits that shake the brain inside the skull. 

    Concussions are serious injuries for everyone. But they can be extra harmful to kids, whose brains are still developing. 

    That’s why many medical experts support the move toward flag football. They say kids should wait until they’re 14 or older to play tackle football.

    Flag football isn’t new. It likely started in the 1940s. American soldiers played it on military bases during World War II. They could have fun without risking getting hurt.

    Today many kids feel the same way. Thaddeus Robinson is 12. He has played both tackle and flag football. He liked tackle football. But he didn’t love how often kids got hurt. “I always came home with bruises,” he says.

    Bruises are just part of it. Each year, thousands of kids playing tackle football get concussions. These head injuries are caused by hits. They shake the brain inside the skull.

    Concussions are serious injuries for everyone. But they can be extra harmful to kids. Their brains are still developing.

    That’s why many medical experts favor flag football. They say kids should wait until they’re 14 or older to play tackle football.

    Far from being a new sport, flag football probably started in the early 1940s. During World War II, many American soldiers played it on military bases. They wanted to have fun without risking getting injured.

    Today a lot of kids feel the same way. Twelve-year-old Thaddeus Robinson, who has played both tackle football and flag football, says he enjoyed parts of tackle football but didn’t love how frequently kids got hurt. “I always came home with bruises,” he recalls.

    And getting bruised is not the only risk. Each year, thousands of kids get concussions while playing tackle football. A concussion is a head injury that is caused by a hit that shakes the brain inside the skull.

    Concussions are serious injuries for everyone. But they can be extra harmful to kids, whose brains are still developing.

    That’s why many medical experts support the move toward flag football. They say kids under the age of 14 shouldn’t be playing tackle football.