Girls gain yards on flag football field

"This is so big for women to be able to say, 'I have a dream to play football' - and to actually know that opportunity is really there," said Overstreet, a former basketball player at the University of Houston who hopes to be in the mix for a spot on the inaugural Olympic roster. "Just saying that to myself now, I'm still in shock."

Flag football is a sport many in the United States grow up playing, either through gym class in elementary school or part of a youth league, or perhaps on the playground at recess. It became even more visible last winter, when the NFL turned to flag football as part of its Pro Bowl festivities.

At the international level, the game consists of five players per side on a field that's 50 yards (46 meters) long - plus 10 yards for each end zone - and 25 yards wide (about half the traditional American football field). The offensive team has four downs to reach midfield. If they reach midfield, the team has four downs to score.

Additionally, every offensive player is an eligible receiver.

The speedy nature of the game has helped it catch on, too.

According to research by USA Football, over a stretch between 2014 and 2022, the participation rate for girls aged 6-12 increased by 178 percent. There were roughly 112,000 girls in this age range that played the sport in 2021 and 2022.

Like Makayla Martinez, a 14-year-old wide receiver from Phoenix who stood out during the USA Football/Los Angeles Rams' talent identification camp last summer. She started playing at 5 years old after watching her cousins take the field. She switched to soccer, though, not seeing a future in flag football- until now.

"My dad was like, 'There's this girls' team that's starting. Do you want to give it a try?'" Martinez recounted. "I was like,'No, not really.' Because I only had played on a boys' team. But I gave it a shot. I went for it. I just started focusing on flag football, because I saw that it was growing."

Currently, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and New York offer flag football as a varsity girls' sport at the high-school level. More states are testing it out, with New Jersey recently moving it from a club sport to one overseen by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association for the next two spring seasons.

The powerful promotional arm of the NFL is generating growth, too. The league has set up camps, clinics, a circuit and even exhibitions.

The Klam family of Austin, Texas, used to be a baseball household, traveling all over to tournaments for their son. Now, Jason and Amberly Klam are fully invested in the world of flag football, even starting their own female travel teams. Their 19-year-old daughter, Ashlea, has long been a star in the sport- since she first stepped onto the field for a boys' team at seven years old. A few years later, Ashlea joined an all-girls'squad and they have since traveled all over.