USA Football brings a week of exciting football to Charlotte, July 5-9

USA Football, the sport’s governing body, will host a week of exciting football events in Charlotte this July. In a five-day span from July 5-9 at UNC Charlotte, fans will have the opportunity to attend a Fan Fest held in collaboration with the Carolina Panthers and watch the world’s best flag football teams compete.

All events take place on the campus of UNC Charlotte (1001 John Kirk Drive, Charlotte, NC 28262) and are open to the public and free to attend.

Flag football is booming, with more than seven million Americans playing the sport and 20 million participants worldwide. Seven states and Southern California now sanction girls’ flag football as a high school varsity sport.

In 2022, the Panthers partnered with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools to pilot a girls’ high school flag football league. In the league’s second year, roughly 600 girls on 24 teams from 20 high schools registered to compete against each other. At the conclusion of the season, teams were able to participate in a championship tournament at Bank of America Stadium, where the Panthers crowned Julius Chambers Cougars as their girl’s flag football champions for the second year in a row.

Charlotte becomes the sport’s center stage on July 5 as the week gets started with outstanding flag football action on the adult and youth levels.

From July 5-7, the 2023 IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship pits USA Football’s U.S. Men’s and Women’s Flag National Teams against the top men’s and women’s teams from North and South America. The U.S. Men’s and Women’s Flag National Teams are reigning World Champions from the 2021 IFAF World Championships in Jerusalem. The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and USA Football hope to see flag football included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. All the action starts at 9 a.m. each day with Opening Ceremonies featuring Panthers Legend Steve Smith, Sr., and Panthers PurrCussion drumline at 10 a.m. July 5, and gold medal action starting at 12 p.m. on July 7, followed by medal ceremonies featuring Panthers Legends Mike Rucker and Mike Tolbert along with NFL Legend and Global Flag Football Ambassador, North Carolina native Torry Holt.

Simultaneously, USA Football will host the second Junior Flag International Cup, paving a pathway for Boys’ and Girls’ U.S. Flag National Teams (15U and 17U) to showcase their skills against teams from across the globe.

The action keeps rolling on July 8-9 with The One Flag Championship, USA Football’s national championship featuring the country’s best flag football teams across youth, co-ed and adult divisions. More than a dozen total tournaments were held over the past five months to establish the field of competitors.

In addition to the flag football action, USA Football and the Panthers are teaming up to host the Carolina Blitz on July 8 from 9:15 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. The Blitz offers a day of free youth football activities for kids. There will be a Fan Fest area, complete with youth football clinics, a photo booth, inflatables, a DJ, food trucks, an appearance by Panthers Legend Mike Rucker, Sir Purr, and the TopCats, and other exciting activities for kids and families.

Enjoy a week of high-energy football excitement from July 5-9 at UNC Charlotte. Admission is free.

If you can’t make it out to the UNCC but still want to experience the excitement of world-class flag football, USA Football will broadcast games from all three competitions. Streaming is free on July 5, with streaming available for the remainder of the action available for $8. Play-by-play, analysis, and sideline reporting will be provided for each international Gold Medal game on Friday, July 7. For more information, please visit USAFootball.com/watch.

USA Football is the sport’s governing body and the sole U.S. member of IFAF. USA Football creates and delivers best-in-class resources, standards and experiences for every football family member to pursue and enjoy America’s favorite sport, from youth to elite U.S. National Teams.

IFAF is the international governing body for the sport of American football made up of a family of 72 member nations across five continents. IFAF is provisionally recognized by the International Olympic Committee.