Flag football players from Little Ealing Primary School flew out to the United States today to represent Great Britain at the NFL Flag International Championships, part of the 2026 NFL Pro Bowl Games, with competition starting next week.
The Ealing school are the reigning GB NFL Flag national champions and will face teams from 13 other countries at the tournament, which runs from 1 to 3 February during Super Bowl week. It will be Little Ealing’s third appearance at the Pro Bowl, after national title wins in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
The team’s final training session before departure was marked by a visit from Efe Obada, the British NFL defensive end, who joined players in London on Wednesday.
The championships will feature under-13 boys’ and girls’ teams from five continents. The first two days of games will be played at Laney College, before the finals move to the NFL Experience at San Francisco’s Moscone Centre. Countries represented include Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan and Mexico.
The NFL said the expanded international format reflected the sport’s growing global reach. Afia Law, the league’s international flag football development lead, said: “With more eyes than ever on the tournament, young athletes from around the world will be able to see just how far the sport can take them.”
Flag football will debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, and the NFL says it now has 20 million players across more than 100 countries.
