Amid NFL hoopla, flag football makes quieter push in suburban Australia

MELBOURNE, Sept 9 : The National Football League (NFL) is determined to make a big splash at its first regular-season game in Australia but out in the Melbourne suburbs, a quieter revolution is brewing without the helmets, shoulder pads and big hits.

Non-contact flag football, which will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, may be the NFL's best chance of turning American football from a TV product into a genuine participation sport outside the United States.

As the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams prepare for their season-opener at the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground, NFL officials and former players have been visiting schools and running clinics in Melbourne to preach the virtues of flag in a market that loves team sports.

Former Rams wide receiver Torry Holt, a seven-times Pro Bowl player, took students through an introductory session of flag at Balwyn High school in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, giving notes on how ball-carriers can develop evasive skills.

“Flag football is so inclusive; everybody can play it. Girls, boys, little kids, little girls - everybody," Holt told Reuters.

"It's not as expensive to play because you don't need all the gear. So I'm super excited about where flag football is and the States are excited about what it could be internationally."

OLYMPIC DREAMS

A commercial behemoth, the NFL is convinced its biggest growth will come from non-U.S. markets and that flag can be the key to unlocking them.

It lobbied hard to get flag at the LA Games and has invested heavily in developing it at grassroots level in strategic foreign markets like Australia.

The league says flag is now played in more than 500 schools around the country.

The idea is to get children playing flag first and