The physical qualities of national league female British American flag football players

Abstract

Despite Flag Football being the fastest-growing format of American Football and its recent inclusion in the 2028 Olympics, there is extremely limited research available on the sport, particularly in the female format. The aim of this study was to be the first of its kind to assess physical fitness qualities in female British Flag Football players. Fourteen participants (age 27.6 ± 4.6 years; height 165.9 ± 8.4 cm; body mass 79.1 ± 29.2 kg) currently playing in a national league Women's Flag team performed the following testing battery; Countermovement Jump (CMJ), Squat Jump (SJ), Broad Jump, 20-yard sprint, Pro Agility, and Isometric Mid-thigh Pull (IMTP). Mean ± SD of physical tests were as follows; CMJ jump height (cm) 25.1 ± 5.9 and peak power (w.kg⁻¹) 39.1 ± 7.1; SJ jump height (cm) 24.6 ± 6.3 and peak power (w.kg⁻¹) 39.3 ± 6.6; Broad Jump distance (m) 1.89 ± 0.28, and IMTP relative peak vertical force 30.1 ± 4.1 (N.kg⁻¹), respectively. Lastly, 20-yard sprint and Pro Agility times were 3.43 ± 0.28 (s) and 5.36 ± 0.38 (s), respectively. Trivial-to-small positional differences in performance variables were observed. Several significant large and very large correlations between jump, sprint, and change of direction were noted. This study is the first to report the physical capabilities of female British Flag Football players. The findings of this study may help develop the understanding of a growing and soon to be Olympic sport. Further research may wish to explore strength-training interventions and longer-term monitoring in female flag football.