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Solas Project found that introducing a sport that everyone was learning from scratch could open new paths to participation, connection and leadership.
The Dublin-based organization works with young people where they’re at — in schools, communities and juvenile justice settings, using mentoring, sport programming and other tools to help them build confidence, connection and a stronger sense of what they’re capable of.
Last year, American flag football became one more way for the organization to achieve that — and the sport’s relative unfamiliarity with young people in Ireland turned out to be a big part of its strength. As a mixed-gender, non-contact and relatively easy-to-learn sport, flag football offers a lower-barrier entry point for young people who may not have connected with more traditional sports.
The opportunity to introduce flag emerged at a significant moment for the sport in the country. In September 2025, Dublin hosted its first National Football League (NFL) game at Croke Park, with Solas staff and young people among those experiencing the league’s arrival firsthand. Some of the youth who showed an early interest soon became the organization’s first Flag Football Ambassadors.
With support from the NFL Foundation Community Partnerships program delivered by Beyond Sport, Solas began building on that interest. The initiative, which expanded to Ireland and four other countries in 2025, provides funding and capacity building to help local organizations incorporate NFL Flag into their existing work with young people.
At Solas, staff, volunteers and young leaders completed coaching and leadership training, an eight-week league launched in Dublin’s inner city, and delivery later expanded into schools and custodial settings.
Starting From Scratch
Almost everyone was learning the sport for the first time.
At Oberstown Children Detention Campus, Solas saw why that mattered:
“The fact that nobody had previous experience created a genuine level playing field.”
Without established stars or years of experience separating one player from another, young people were free to make mistakes, learn the rules and figure out the game together.
For some who had little experience with organized sport — or simply hadn’t seen themselves as “sporty” — that made participation feel more accessible.
One young person described it simply:
“Flag football is a really fun new sport that everyone can play. I’m really enjoying it!”
That sense of openness showed up in who participated, too. In secondary schools, mixed teams brought together young people from a range of cultural backgrounds. At primary school level, an all-girls program exceeded Solas’ expectations for female participation.
For some young people, participation also became an opportunity to gain leadership skills. Those who initially joined simply to play have since progressed from participants to leaders. As Flag Football Ambassadors, they’ll help support future sessions alongside staff and encourage other young people to get involved.
Solas also saw changes beyond simple participation. Among young people who completed both baseline and follow-up surveys, 57% reported feeling more confident in their ability to be physically active regularly. The organization also looked at changes in teamwork, resilience, leadership, willingness to try new experiences and connection with peers and community.
But some of the strongest signs of connection were less easily captured in a survey.
A community Flag Football Fun Day brought young people, families and community members together around the game. Youth took the field alongside members of An Garda Síochána (Ireland’s national police force), organizational staff, volunteers and local adults, while families joined for food, music and community activities. At Oberstown, participants later had the chance to play against a team from outside the Solas program, with food and music helping turn the match into a wider celebration of what they had built together.
A Different Kind of Entry Point
Those moments reflected something central to Solas’ approach.
The organization did not introduce flag football simply because it wanted another sport to offer. It used the game as another way to build relationships, create leadership opportunities and give young people a place to participate on terms that felt accessible to them.
And there may be a wider lesson in that.
In community sport, much of the conversation around inclusion focuses on removing barriers to activities young people are already familiar with. Solas’ experience points to another possibility: sometimes starting with something unfamiliar can remove a different set of barriers.
There are fewer assumptions about who should already be good at it. Fewer established hierarchies. Less pressure to arrive with years of experience.
For the organization, that made flag football an accessible entry point for young people who may not have seen themselves as “sporty” before.
Learning Across Communities
Solas wasn’t alone in seeing that potential.
Elsewhere in the NFL Foundation Community Partnerships program, organizations were learning what could happen when they introduced an unfamiliar sport in ways that reflected their own communities.
In Brazil, Fundação EPROCAD found that flag football engaged adolescents who weren’t involved in or didn’t identify with other sports. Some girls initially approached the game with hesitation, in part because they associated it with traditional American football, but confidence and interest grew as participants became familiar with the rules, equipment and style of play.
In Spain, Fútbol Más found that flag football’s mixed, non-contact and cooperative format could be adapted within its existing approach to youth development. Introducing a new sport required staff to test different formats and adapt sessions while staying connected to the organization’s existing methodology.
That adaptability is central to the wider partnership. Rather than asking community organizations to build something entirely new around flag football, the program supports them to incorporate the sport into existing programming and leverage the relationships they have already established with young people.
Through funding, equipment, training, and capacity building, partners can use NFL Flag in ways that support physical and mental well-being, build community and help reduce inequalities.
For Solas, flag football has since become another part of its approach to youth engagement. Not because every participant will continue playing the sport, but because the experience revealed something useful about participation itself.
Sometimes the most powerful invitation is not to be the best.
It’s simply to start from the same place.
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