North Carolina youth flag football team earns spot at NFL FLAG nationals

NFL FLAG Flag Football Elite from Pittsboro earned an invitation to the 2026 NFL FLAG Championships Presented by Toyota on June 29, placing North Carolina’s youth flag football pipeline on one of the sport’s biggest stages. The league will be the only program from North Carolina at the event, a distinction that gives the Triangle a rare seat at a tournament the NFL calls the largest youth flag football competition in the world.

The championships are set for July 23-26 at Droplight Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Indiana, the first time the event has been staged there. More than 350 boys’ and girls’ teams are expected, with regional champions from all 32 NFL clubs joining international teams from 12 countries in a bracket designed to stretch from American club football to a global title chase.

The visibility is part of the point. ESPN will broadcast and stream boys 14U, high school girls and international division games across July 24-26, putting the North Carolina athletes in front of a national audience if they advance into the featured windows. For a regional program built in Chatham County, that kind of exposure is the real currency: not just a trip to nationals, but a chance to be seen on the same weekend the sport is being sold as the future.

NFL FLAG Flag Football Elite has grown fast enough to turn that shot into a credible pathway. Founded by Cedric Peerman and Dr. Hagar Elgendy, the nonprofit serves athletes ages 4 to 17 through seasonal leagues, travel programming, skills development and community-based initiatives. The organization says more than 20 percent of its athletes receive scholarships, while its website says more than half do, an approach that has helped the club widen access instead of turning elite youth football into a paywall.

Peerman’s football resume gives the program its edge and its credibility. The former NFL veteran, a former team captain, Pro Bowler and elected NFL Players Association representative also worked as an assistant coach at Northwood High School, and that mix of pro pedigree and local coaching roots has shaped the league’s identity in Pittsboro and across the Triangle. Peerman said the invitation gives athletes a chance to see what is possible and reflects the work of the players, coaches and families behind the program.

The league has also pushed beyond drills and game days. Its programming includes mental toughness sessions, nutrition education, leadership development and guest speakers from professional and elite backgrounds. A recent partnership with the UNC Sports Medicine Institute adds another layer, tying athlete safety and performance support to a staff that includes physicians, surgeons, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, athletic trainers, nutritionists and biomechanists.

With flag football headed for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the North Carolina team’s trip to Westfield lands at the right moment. The sport is expanding fast, and this program is showing how a club built in the Triangle can move from local fields to the national bracket without losing the developmental structure that got it there.