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

    McManus, Hannah, Harper, Liam ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2089-4799 and Finlay, Mitchell J. (2025) The physical qualities of national league female British American flag football players. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching. 17479541251366817. ISSN 1747-9541

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    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<sup>−1</sup>) 39.1 ± 7.1; SJ jump height (cm) 24.6 ± 6.3 and peak power (w.kg<sup>−1</sup>) 39.3 ± 6.6; Broad Jump distance (m) 1.89 ± 0.28, and IMTP relative peak vertical force 30.1 ± 4.1 (N.kg<sup>−1</sup>), 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.

    Item Type: Article (Article)
    Peer-reviewed: Yes
    Date Deposited: 01 Oct 2025 10:39
    Publisher: SAGE Publications
    Additional Information: This is an author accepted manuscript of an article published in International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, by SAGE Publications. This version is deposited with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/], in accordance with Man Met's Research Publications Policy. The version of record can be found on the publisher's website.
    Divisions: Organisation > Science and Engineering
    Organisation > Science and Engineering > Department of Life Science
    Subject terms: 11 Medical and Health Sciences, 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences, 42 Health sciences, 52 Psychology
    Data Access Statement: All data is presented within the results section of the manuscript
    URI: https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/641839
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541251366817
    ISSN 1747-9541
    e-ISSN 2048-397X

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