British NFL star Efe Obada was a special guest as Little Ealing Primary School finalised their gameplan ahead of a trip to Las Vegas to take part in the NFL Pro Bowl Games this weekend.
The students Little Ealing Primary earned a truly once in a lifetime trip to Las Vegas to represent the UK in the 2023 NFL Flag International Championships, which take place during the Pro Bowl. The school booked their place in Sin City with victory at the 2022 NFL Flag National Championship at Loughborough University last June, with one girl from Little Ealing perfectly highlighting the incredible stakes on the line as she emphatically trucked an opponent before scoring.
NFL Flag is a non-contact, inclusive form of American football that has been the centrepiece of the NFL’s plan to improve participation at grassroots level across the sport in the UK. Since it was formed in 2017, NFL Flag has quickly become one of the fastest growing sports in the UK with 53% of participants being female.
The Las Vegas event this weekend will see 10 teams from eight nations go head-to-head to be crowned champions as part of the re-imagined Pro Bowl Games 2023. In their first round of games, Little Ealing will play against the corresponding national champions from Canada, Ghana and Mexico.
To help them prepare for the event, British NFL star Efe Obada was in attendance. The Washington Commanders defensive end - who tallied four sacks in 2022 - visited the west London school to help inspire the kids and give them a masterclass ahead of their journey to Vegas.
“I practiced with them last year in the offseason, and to see they’ve stuck it through for this opportunity to go out to Vegas against other countries is amazing,” Obada exclusively told Mirror Sport. “I’m upset we only have one team representing the UK, but baby steps. Hopefully it leads to more opportunities and more schools getting into flag football.”
Obada, who swore he will follow in Little Ealing’s footsteps by reaching the Pro Bowl before he retires from the NFL, admitted he rarely plays the non-contact form of American football, which was perhaps obvious when he rushed the young quarterback as if she was Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers.
The 30-year-old said: “I have never played flag football in my life but when I come and interact with the kids, I get involved! Also, the Big Kid foundation run flag football practices and tournaments in Crystal Palace so it’s great to see it develop over here - but it’s contact for me!”
Bobby Behzadi, Head of Physical Education at Little Ealing, is understandably as excited to experience the 2023 NFL Flag International Championships as his budding American footballers. Behdazi - who referred to Obada as a ‘real role model’ as well as a ‘big bear’ - added: “We’re excited. We just want to get out there because we’ve been sitting on it for just over six months now - now we just need to go to the dance.
“We want to go out there and give the best version of ourselves. We don’t know anything about anybody else. All we know is about us and this group of kids are special. I’ve had them since they were five years old, so to watch them grow and prosper and have this opportunity to go out to Las Vegas to represent the UK is not something I could have ever dreamed of.”
Little Ealing have benefited from the NFL’s free provision of Flag Football training and equipment to all primary and secondary schools who wished to take part. Behzadi admitted the improved training and knowledge paired with revamped rules in Las Vegas, including pressuring the quarterback and punting, mean the school have been forced to alter their tactics.
Regardless, Behzadi hopes to see his students make it all the way to the 2028 Olympics. The NFL is hoping Flag Football is introduced to the Games schedule for the Games in Los Angeles, and Behzadi believes the accessible format of the game and the opportunities it provides makes it a must-play.
“I've been asked to plan to get one of these kids into the Olympics,” he said with a smile. “It just goes to show the platform here for these guys; this is a stepping stone. They have an amazing opportunity: the door is open, it’s up to them to walk through it now.
He added: “I was a little bit apprehensive before, but there’s something for everyone here - it doesn’t matter what kind of athlete you are. Whatever attributes you’ve got, there’s space for you on a team and that’s the beauty of the NFL. I keep telling people we know football is the number one sport here and it always will be, but this is a great alternative. It’s completely different and once you get to grips with it, you can take it as far as you want to.”
In the case of Little Ealing Primary School, they’re taking it 5,211 miles from west London all the way to the bright lights of Las Vegas.
