JETS STARS LAUNCH DUBLIN GIRLS FLAG LEAGUE
The New York Jets have unveiled their latest community project, an all-new NFL Girls Flag league in Dublin, just in time for of International Women’s Day this coming Saturday (8th March).
The league is the first of its kind to be established in Ireland and aims to increase access to, and participation in, sports by girls across the city. As a result, some 80 girls, aged 12-15 and from eight schools across Dublin, joined the Jets stars Quincy Williams and Isaiah Davis for the league’s all-day launch event at the Sport Ireland Campus, which also included panel discussions and skills-based activities.
“We are delighted to be announcing the launch of our new Jets NFL Girls Flag league here in Dublin and welcoming 80 new girls into our growing family in Ireland,” Jesse Linder, Jets’ vice-president of community relations, said. “Creating opportunities to grow girls’ participation in sport is a key priority for the Jets, both at home and in our international markets. NFL Flag provides the perfect platform to support this ambition, teaching skills and providing benefits both on and off the field.
“Spending time in Dublin this week, we can see and feel the excitement around our sport and hope the league can play a part in engaging a new generation of girls with the Jets and the NFL.”
The launch kicked off by welcoming the girls into the Jets’ growing international family via a panel discussion hosted by Her Sport founder, Niamh Tallon. Featuring the colours and sounds of a game day at MetLife Stadium, the panel introduced the girls to the unique Jets fan culture before discussing the global popularity of flag football and the positive impact of taking part.
Tallon was joined on stage by veteran linebacker Williams, as well as Jets director of community relations and youth football Eli Hodges, NFL International Flag Football Development’s Afia Law, and both Megan Howe and Helen Smyth from the Irish Wolfhounds flag football team.
Following the panel, running back Davis joined the girls in partaking in activity stations such as quarterback net, table tennis and a digital photobooth, before the girls were presented with their official Nike league kits. The afternoon then saw the youngsters take to the field to participate in a host of NFL Flag-related drills before the competitive action got under way with the first round of league fixtures.
All 80 girls will continue to participate across five weeks of league matches, before going head-to-head in a final championship event on Tuesday, April 8th. Together, it is hoped that the girls will plan and execute their own winning plays, as well as building life-long psychological skills in strategy, communication and resilience, while realising that playing sport can contribute to improved mental well-being.
“It was a pleasure to attend the launch of the Jets NFL Girls Flag league,” Law commented. “Female participation in flag football is growing around the world and initiatives such as these run by the Jets are a key component of the sport’s success. The passion and enthusiasm on display was infectious and I wish the girls the best of luck in the league’s inaugural year.”
The Jets support for girls’ flag football began in 2011 with the launch of a league with the PSAL in New York City, in the process becoming the first NFL club to help launch girls’ flag football at varsity level. A decade later, in 2021, the Jets and Nike then launched the first High School Girls Flag Football League in New Jersey. Launched with the intention of providing girls an equal opportunity to play football to their male counterparts, the long-term goal of the Jets support was to have the sport adopted as an official state-wide championship sport in high schools, which officially came to fruition last spring in New York and is imminent for New Jersey.
In 2023, the Jets launched the first-ever NFL-supported girls flag football league in the UK. The league started with 12 teams and has since expanded to 28 throughout the greater London area for the upcoming spring season. Since 2011, the Jets have committed over $1.5m to creating opportunities for girls in football, bringing their total support to over 250 girls flag football programmes, both domestically and internationally, and over 6,000 participants in 2025.
The launch of the league also represents the latest activation by the Jets in Ireland since the franchise was awarded the right to expand its brand and activities in the country as part of the NFL’s ‘Global Markets Programme’ in April 2024. That moment was celebrated by the team enlisting Love Island star — and former Irish rugby union player — Greg O’Shea to announce the first-ever New York Jets live NFL Draft pick from Dublin and, later in the year, hosting their first-ever official Ireland watch party at Buskers on the Ball for the team’s Week 14 clash against the Miami Dolphins in December.
Jets fans who might have hoped that the launch of the girls’ league was an indication that their team would be playing in the first NFL regular season game to be held in Dublin this coming season will be disappointed to learn, however, that, while they are indeed scheduled to play the already-confirmed Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025, the Jets are scheduled to be the home team in that fixture, precluding them from appearing at Croke Park as well as at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season.
Jets NFL Girls Flag League Dublin
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