LA28 Olympics: Why Brisbane 2032’s NFL and GB flag football teams loom on the horizon

After finishing seventh at last year’s World Championships and then fifth at this year’s World Games, Britain’s women retained their European title in Paris last month.

Last December, the British American Football Association (BAFA) also received funding from UK Sport for the first time, with £500,000 allocated to developing the Olympic Performance Programme.

This, coupled with investment from a private donor, has allowed Bafa to provide Britain’s players with better support services than ever before and, for the first time, cover most of their travel expenses to this year’s events in China and France.

After securing a further £500,000 from Sport England, Bava launched a new strategy to develop the UK’s game management, infrastructure and participation pyramid, which now includes more than 10,000 players and 150 clubs.

Since the women’s team became consecutive European champions, more potential sponsors have shown interest.

“It’s like rugby, look what the success of the English women has done for them,” said Chad Eilertsen, who became BFA’s chief executive last year.

“I’ve tried to change the mindset across the group, to make it less focused on winning and more focused on developing the right culture and values. But if we are successful in the short term, it only helps us ensure Science stays here in the long term and that GB will perform at a high level.”

There was no men’s event at this year’s World Games, but after finishing 10th at last year’s World Championships, Britain’s men finished fourth at the European Championships, meaning both British teams qualified for next year’s World Championships in Germany.

“This could be an early path to qualifying for the Olympics,” Ahlertsen said. “Hopefully we’ll be in the mix, so it’s a big year coming up.”