C (3:25)
So what if your child had the heart, the drive, the skill for something they love, but not the access? What if a sport your child loved denied her the ability to play because of her gender? Let's imagine your granddaughter, your sister, your niece. Let's imagine a world where she had every opportunity that exists for a young boy, where the playing field wasn't just metaphorically level, it was literally accessible to her. Let's think about a world where every locker room door open with the same ease for everyone. That question has stayed with me for years and is really the reason why I'm standing here today. I think about my journey. In this journey of sport and football, I was raised by a strong woman, Alma Vincent. This quiet determination and women surrounded my life throughout my childhood. That brings me back to a young girl in the city of Trenton, New Jersey, named Tracy Williams. Now, Tracy not only played every sport Tracy competed. Tracy was smart. Tracy was fast. Tracy not only competed. Tracy used to whoop our tails. But as time went on, there was no coach or recruiter in the neighborhood recruiting Tracy. There was no place for girls as what we would call on the football playing field. So as time went on, she dreamed. But her access quickly vanished. Today, a father of five not so young kids anymore. Five different dreams, five different personalities, five different aspirations, and five levels of complete drama. I have had my fair share of carpools and sport practices. Our oldest child, Desiree, our oldest daughter, our beautiful daughter Desiree has always had this hunger and this competitiveness about her. Can throw a pretty good spiral. By the time Dez was 7, Dez was smart. Desiree was agile. Many would consider her slightly tough. Desiree played a ton of football in the backyards with her brother and friends. By the time Desiree turned 10, the opportunity to keep playing quickly vanished. It wasn't because Desiree lost interest. Desiree lost access. Meanwhile, her brothers, our sons, they had the opportunity to Continue to play at both the high school level and the collegiate level. I realized that I was teaching my sons life lessons of toughness, building grit, telling them not to cry. And quickly I realized that I was just reinforcing this thing called the man box where I was teaching my sons one thing, but then yet reinforcing that boys get to compete and girls get to cheer. It was at that time I realized that the system was broken. Fast forward 30 years. Flag football has truly emerged as this dynamic, all inclusive sport. Today. It is not only creating options for young women, it is being played by 20 million people across 100 different countries. This flag movement is real. It is creating options for young women that never exist before. Flag football teaches, as we would consider, these life skills that football has always taught, they just haven't been shared with young girls of leadership, resiliency, toughness. It develops grit. Now, young women, young girls have an opportunity to compete. Now you may be asking yourself why? Why, why this movement? Why all of a sudden this explosion is affordable, it's accessible, it's all inclusive. And I'll add one more point there. It's social media friendly. Today, 17 states have sanctioned girls varsity flag as a true varsity sport in High School. 19 additional states have pilot programs. 100 plus colleges now offer flag with scholarships. Let's take Keelolo Westerly. I love this. She's the first female to earn a Division 1 full scholarship for flag football. She's the first of many. That's just the beginning. And this is what excites me. In 2028, flag football will debut in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Okay, there's been a hundred years. Let's think about this. A hundred plus years of football and our young ladies will be able to take the field in a sport that once had no place for them. We're not in the Olympic Games if not for the participation and the skill level of young women across the globe. NFL flag, we're now in six different continents. Flag is truly becoming a global language. It is truly taking the world by storm. And it's taking the world by storm because of the participation of women. Women are driving this movement. I won't allow anyone to say, well, it's because of marketing, because. No, it's not. It's simple. We opened the door for her and we gave her an opportunity to participate. And she's taken our sport to another level. It is so important that this movement, that we nurture it in this time, in this space, we must nurture this movement. What do I mean by nurturing? The movement. Let's take advantage of this momentum, the one thing that we have to be careful of, and this is why I'll challenge the group here. It is so important that we don't commercialize it for men or boys because there's a tendency to do that, to commercialize a sport and create a commercial model for boys. And then yet we get satisfied with just access for women. No, we must create an equal playing field as we develop this great sport, it is so important that we nurture it. So you may be asking, well, what can I do? Ask the question. At your schools, start small. Reach out to your local parks and rec. Do young women have the ability to play flag football at your school? At your local parks and rec, we talk about life skills. Life skills in football are so transferable. We need to remind, just like we remind our young boys that these transferable skills that I live by every single day, leadership, toughness, communication skills, these are all transferable life skills. Read a defense, read a room, call an audible, solve a problem, lead a drive, lead in life. These are things that we've been telling our young boys and what the game provides us as a transferable life skill for over 100 years. They're now on the table as an option for young ladies. So in closing, let's just imagine a world where Tracy from my old neighborhood, my granddaughters, Layla, Rosie, Nadia, Gianni, imagine a world where they can take the field. Imagine a world where your niece, your sister, your daughter is representing our country. Imagine a world where your niece, your daughter, your granddaughter is walking out in the opening ceremony. Here's my challenge and here's what I would leave Let her lead. Let her dream. Just let her take the field. Why? Because the future of football and sports, it is through women. And it's now. Thank you.
