With the NFL Flag championships underway in Canton, Ohio, the NFL’s more current media coverage has not skimped on representing the event’s importance for young female athletes everywhere. Though the championships include both young male and female divisions, a TikTok post made by the NFL in recent days highlights the significant impact of the championship on young women. The video features 17-year-old Olivia Rijo, a female flag football wide receiver competing in the championships 18 and under female division. She opens the video by addressing young women, stating:
“Don’t let anyone tell you that football is a boy sport. There are plenty of girls out there that completely dominate.”
The presence of this championship reminds many of the efforts made by the NFL organization to include women in the predominantly male-dominated sport and empower them to share in the excitement of football.
The reason much of the media coverage surrounding the championship is focused on the importance of female participation in the event is that being a heavy-contact sport, many young girls are discouraged from participating in football which only works to further disconnect them from it as a sport and an interest. Flag football, on the other hand, is considered a much safer and easily accessible variation of the sport which allows people of all ages, genders, and skill levels to participate. The NFL itself even expresses this sentiment on the front page of its NFL Flag website:
“In this game, there’s a position for everyone. No matter who you are, flag is your chance to run, throw, jump, and fly.”
Not only does the NFL as a whole make efforts to support and include young female athletes in the sport and the league, but the Baltimore Ravens do the same on a more local scale with their annual L.I.F.T. conference. The Ravens annual L.I.F.T. conference, L.I.F.T. standing for “Leading and Inspiring Females to Thrive,” just marked its ninth anniversary with the conference’s occurrence in April of 2024. The conference is centered around the participation of young female athletes from local Maryland high schools with the conference’s focus being on the empowerment, leadership, and participation of women in sports.
However, the Ravens and the NFL as a whole, just like many other organizations, have their shortcomings when it comes to female involvement, representation, and participation. One of the most reported instances of this is in the insufficient payment of their cheerleaders.
Despite the acknowledgment of cheerleading as a legitimate sport, cheerleaders are still being significantly underpaid in the NFL, making on average only around $22,500 a year. Of course, in comparison to the players themselves, this pay discrepancy is to be expected. However, what may come as a shock is their pay discrepancy in comparison to the non-playing participants on the sidelines. Holly Baxter, a writer for the Independent, reported that the cheerleaders are paid far less than even the NFL mascots and waterboys, who make an annual salary of $25,000 and $53,000 respectively. The Ravens are not exempt from this issue, with the Atlantic reporting that their cheerleaders make only $100 every home game despite the extensive hours of practice and training they are mandated to attend.
Unequal pay between men and women is a current debate in almost every industry, and the NFL is no exception. While it’s important to note where improvements can be made in this regard, it is equally as important to commend the NFL for the strides it has made and continues to make to uplift women, especially young women, in their participation in the sport.
With the streaming of the NFL Flag Championship on various entertainment services such as ESPN, Disney+, and YouTube, the event’s global accessibility will only work to improve the notoriety and importance of young women in the NFL and football as a whole.
