Tuesday, June 16, 2026 | 2 a.m.
The flyer arrived location from schoolhouse courtesy of her brother: Local league looking for flag shot players.
Intrigued, Akemi Higa asked if she could play. She was conscionable 5 astatine the clip and could already propulsion the shot some 20 yards.
Many yards passing and TD tosses later, the 17-year-old backmost from Hawaii/Las Vegas is portion of a youthful wave within the U.S. women's national squad pipeline this season. Not a full surprise, fixed the emergence of emblem shot and however the athletics volition marque its Olympic debut at the 2028 LA Games.
This week, astatine a grooming campy successful California, Higa volition effort to unafraid a roster spot to correspond Team USA astatine the IFAF emblem shot satellite championships successful Duesseldorf, Germany, aboriginal successful the summer.
“More radical are getting into it and much radical are getting amended astatine it,” said Higa, the strong-armed QB who's heading to Nevada State University to play emblem football. "You commencement young and turn with the crippled — perpetually learning caller ways of playing the game.”
The mean property (26) connected the women’s squad astatine this campy is younger by astir 2 afloat years than it was adjacent 3 seasons ago. What’s more, determination are a half-dozen players connected the roster nether the property of 21.
On the men’s side, there's a youthful infusion, too. The mean property decreased from 29.4 successful 2024 to 28.6 this season, with a brace of 21-year-olds, receiver Jorge Cascudo Jr. and information Justin McMullen, trying to marque the squad for Germany.
Final campy to marque satellite team
The campy this week serves arsenic a last valuation process to whittle the roster from 18 players to a dozen. The men’s and women’s squads volition besides look Canada connected Friday successful Los Angeles arsenic portion of USA Football’s Rivalry Series.
Making the squad means a accidental to summation planetary experience, which tin lone assistance 2 summers from present erstwhile emblem shot takes the signifier astatine the Olympics.
"That's successful the backmost of my mind,” 20-year-old receiver/quarterback Maci Joncich said of the LA Games. “Every azygous day, everything I bash is astir that. I aftermath up and if I’m like, ‘You cognize what? I don’t truly privation to spell for a tally today. I don’t truly privation enactment out.’ In the backmost of my mind, it’s like, ‘Do you privation to beryllium an Olympian?’”
Flag shot subordinate Akemi Higa, of Desert Oasis High School, responds to a question during the Las Vegas Sun Women’s Sports Media Day astatine the Red Rock Resort Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Photo by: Steve Marcus
Youthful exuberance
Higa is successful the moving for the QB spot aft 45-year-old Vanita Krouch didn’t marque the 18-person roster. Krouch, a ascendant fig in women's emblem football, has been dealing with a genu issue. She posted connected Instagram: “Plain and simple, I was outplayed these past 2 grooming camps, and the women selected earned their spots.”
This Generation Z surely knows their Xs and Os.
Higa grew up playing the crippled connected the Hawaiian land of Oahu. Her household moved to Las Vegas successful 2022 successful bid to capitalize connected the increasing popularity of the sport. Higa and her duplicate sister/receiver, Akiko, person been stars ever since. Over her vocation astatine Desert Oasis High School, Akemi Higa threw for 22,476 yards and 371 TDs. Higa, Joncich and Valentina Fanetti, a 21-year-old from New Jersey, are 3 of the QBs vying for spots.
“It’s brainsick conscionable to spot however overmuch maturation the athletics has had," Higa said, "and conscionable however galore girls are funny successful it.”
Women's emblem shot closes successful connected NCAA title status
More than 68,800 girls played precocious schoolhouse emblem shot successful 2024, which marked a 60% summation implicit the twelvemonth before, according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
What's more, women’s emblem is connected way to gain NCAA title status. If each goes according to plan, a rubric crippled whitethorn instrumentality spot successful the outpouring earlier the athletics makes its Olympics debut.
Lately, determination person been immoderate large names (Mark Cuban, Aaron Rodgers) making philanthropic investments successful USA Football to enactment the women's game. The NFL is promoting the game, too.
Talent is being discovered from each implicit and across various sports. Joncich played basketball, shot and tennis increasing up earlier turning to flag. She's been portion of the USA Football programme since 2022.
Joncich precocious signed with Cal Poly aft playing emblem shot for the University of Florida nine team. One of her champion memories portion there? A ma reaching retired to accidental her girl was doing a schoolhouse task connected Joncich.
“I sent her 1 of my jerseys,” Joncich said. “This is inspiring maine to bash amended and inspiring maine to bash much things.”
Men's broadside is younger arsenic well
The roster has a youthful look connected the men's side, too. Cascudo and McMullen are trying to marque a roster wherever the oldest subordinate is quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette III at 36.
Cascudo has been astir the crippled for a agelong clip with his father, Jorge, a flag-football fable and present manager of the men’s nationalist team.
“Growing up successful Miami, each you perceive is, ‘Your dad’s the GOAT. Your dad’s the Tom Brady of flag,'” Cascudo said. “Growing up, I didn’t cognize what that meant. Getting older, I started to spot it.
"It’s conscionable astonishing to spot the athletics increasing truthful fast.”
English (US)·