C.J. Ham hosts first girls flag football camp in Duluth

C.J. Ham hosted the first annual C.J. Ham Girls Flag Football Camp in Duluth on Saturday, bringing players of all skill levels to Denfeld High School for a night of drills and competition. The former Minnesota Vikings fullback used the event to give girls flag football its first turn in a camp format he has built in Duluth for years.

Saturday’s camp at Denfeld included girls’ flag football drills for the first time, turning Ham’s long-running youth program into an entry point for a sport that is still building its identity in Minnesota. Ham said the day carried special meaning because he is the father of two daughters, and he centered the camp on giving young athletes a real place in the game.

The setting mattered. Ham has made Duluth Denfeld High School his camp base, and this year’s girls event expanded that footprint rather than replacing it. Earlier this summer, he had scheduled the seventh annual C.J. Ham Duluth Youth Football Camp for July 18 at his alma mater before poor air quality in Duluth forced a move to Aug. 1, a reminder that his camp has become a fixture on the local calendar.

That kind of consistency is part of why the girls camp stood out. The sport is one of the fastest-growing in the country, with high school participation rising, college programs launching and the 2028 Olympic Games on the horizon. A former NFL player running a girls flag football camp in Duluth gives the sport visibility and legitimacy in a region where access still depends on coaches, volunteers and examples young players can see in front of them.

Ham has made that presence part of his broader work. His youth camp has continued for years in Duluth, and WDIO quoted him during that run saying, “Stuff like this never stops.” On Saturday, that message reached a new group of players, with girls getting direct instruction in a format that matched the way the sport itself is growing.