NFL Flag teams from Little Ealing and Ealing Fields in London have earned once-in-a-lifetime NFL experiences after securing victories at the GB NFL Flag 2025 National Championships at Leeds Beckett University on Tuesday, June 17th.
2025 marked the first time the national championships had been held in Leeds, with 28 schools coming together to compete in 11U Mixed, 13U Mixed, and 15U Girls tournaments. The competition has seen record levels of participation across the country this year, with a total of 480 schools entering local qualifying rounds.
Little Ealing took home the title in the 11U Mixed tournament for the third time in four years with a 28-0 win over Ysgol Gwynedd. The team now progress to the International NFL Flag Championship in the U.S.
Ealing Fields also emerged victorious across both the 13U Mixed and 15U Girls tournaments. The 13U side defeated Windlesham House, 27-13, to book their place in the NFL Flag Championship at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio, from July 17 to 20.
The school’s 15U Girls side also triumphed over defending champions Mount Carmel in the final, 21-6. As a result, they will join other teams from across Europe at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this October to compete in the NFL Flag Continental Series: Europe.
Since the inception of the NFL Flag programme in 2017, the NFL’s official program for non-contact football, the game has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.K., with over 120,000 people now participating across 1,000 schools.
The 280 participants were joined by several special guests in Leeds, including Britain’s first female coach in the NFL, Phoebe Schecter, former NFL player Jason Bell, and the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin. Members of the Women’s and Men’s Great Britain Flag Football teams were also in attendance alongside Sky Sports NFL presenter Neil Reynolds.
“We were delighted to be able to bring our GB NFL Flag National Championships to Leeds for the first time in 2025,” said NFL U.K. & Ireland General Manager, Henry Hodgson. “The growth of participation in the NFL Flag programme plays a key role in the growth of the NFL throughout the U.K. and Ireland. Congratulations to our three new national champions and to all the teams who competed in this year’s championships.”
Flag football will be played at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028, and is the world’s fastest-growing sport, played by over 20 million people in more than 100 countries. It is the most inclusive and accessible format of American football, played by people of all ages and genders, with female athletes driving some of the fastest growth. Fast, highly accessible and inclusive, the non-contact format of the game is spearheading extraordinary growth in participation globally.
The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and the National Football League are investing in the development and growth of flag football at both grassroots and elite levels worldwide.
To find out more about the NFL Flag programme in the UK and how to get involved, please visit https://ww.nfl.com/uk/nfl-flag.
