Packers send 10 teams to record NFL FLAG Championships in Indiana

Ten Packers-affiliated teams from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois earned spots in the 2026 NFL FLAG Championships, giving Green Bay one of the strongest local showings in a field built for more than 350 girls and boys teams. The July 7 announcement turned the trip to Westfield, Indiana, into a snapshot of how far the Packers’ youth flag network has spread.

The qualifying group includes the Huskies 8u from Green Bay; St. Francis Xavier Youth Football in 12uRec from Cross Plains; three NWC Blue Rangers teams from Eau Claire, the 10u Girl Blue Rangers, 12u Girl Blue Rangers and 14u Blue Rangers; the Milwaukee School of Languages Hawks in the high school girls division; the Fadesss Fighters 9U and 11U teams from Saint Paul, Minnesota; the Kandiyohi County Area Family YMCA 10U Roughnecks from Willmar, Minnesota; and AllGo Sports Blue 14U girls from Northbrook, Illinois. The mix of age groups, girls divisions and rec teams shows how the Packers’ pipeline now reaches well beyond one town or one school.

Ryan Fencl, the Packers’ football outreach manager, said the organization is proud of the athletes and remains committed to expanding access to football in all forms while helping develop the next generation of players. That message fits a system the Packers have been building through regional competition, school support and girls flag investment.

The championships run July 23-26 at Droplight Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, a 400-plus-acre complex in the Indianapolis metro area. NFL FLAG says the event is the largest youth flag football tournament in the world, and this year’s field will be the biggest yet, with more than 350 girls’ and boys’ teams. Admission is free, though NFL OnePass registration is required, and coverage will stretch across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, NFL+, the ESPN app, Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney XD, YouTube and select international markets.

Green Bay’s path to Indiana runs through its own regional tournament. The Packers hosted their third NFL FLAG Regional Tournament on May 30-31 at the Don Hutson Center and Ray Nitschke Field, and 48 teams from five states came to Green Bay. That event followed an earlier regional that also drew 48 registered teams in 2024, while the Packers’ first regional tournament brought 50 Midwest teams to Titletown. Each step has widened the runway from neighborhood leagues to NFL-affiliated competition and, now, to the sport’s biggest stage.

The reach matters because the sport itself is scaling fast. NFL FLAG says youth leagues now include more than 830,000 players across more than 2,000 leagues nationwide, with the game offered at the high school level in 40 states and jurisdictions. The Packers have also pushed that growth at home, awarding $100,000 in May to 20 Wisconsin high schools through their Girls Flag Grant Program to help launch intramurals and club teams.