During this year’s Super Bowl, the NFL delivered a clear message to hundreds of millions of viewers with its halftime commercial: Leave the past behind. Let’s make girl’s flag football a varsity sport in all 50 states. The Super Bowl spot included Cleveland’s own Myles Garrett, who has been a champion for youth and high school football in Northeast Ohio. Our family and the entire Cleveland Browns organization understands the value in girls flag football, and we want to see the growth of the sport continue, which is why we are working to increase awareness surrounding our Girls High School Flag Football Program. The 2025 Spring season begins under the lights this Friday, March 28. We urge girls across the state to get involved, as we remain focused on creating a pathway for Girls High School Flag Football to become a sanctioned varsity sport under the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). We began our Girls Flag Football program in 2021 and garnered partnership support over the years with Gatorade and Bridgestone, seeing the number of Northeast Ohio high schools with girls’ teams grow from two to 88, with 60 new high schools committed to play in the 2025 Spring season. Girls High School Flag football is clearly gaining momentum in Ohio, nationally and around the globe, with men’s and women’s teams set to compete in the 2028 Olympics for the first time. We are determined to join the growing number of states – now up to 14 – that have officially sanctioned the sport. To that end, the Browns are committed to spreading awareness around girls’ flag football, showcasing the talents of young female athletes playing in Ohio, the opportunities to play collegiately, and making the sport more accessible. The Browns provide essential resources to schools participating in our league, including uniform sets provided by NIKE and an all-inclusive toolkit with the necessary equipment for practice and games provided by USA Football. Bridgestone has also donated over $40,000 to help with referee costs in 2025. The 2025 Spring season will kick off with five weeks of games, followed by the Cleveland Browns Championship Tournament at Huntington Bank Field. The top six teams will take on the top six teams from the Cincinnati Bengals Championship Tournament at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton in May for the coveted State Championship Title. Just as the NFL shined a light on girls flag football during the Super Bowl, we collaborated with the Berea-Midpark Girls High School Flag Football team, a long-time club partner around the corner from CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, on a brand spot to showcase the excitement surrounding flag and encourage girls to start a team. Prior to Super Bowl LIX we announced cornerback Greg Newsome II as our first official Girls Flag Ambassador. Greg has been deeply invested in girls flag, and alongside other Browns players and personnel, will put his full support behind growing the sport. Today, Wednesday, March 26, we’ll be hosting our second annual girls flag ‘A New Era’ Summit, bringing 900 athletes to Huntington Bank Field in an effort to grow the game and their futures. If you are a student, parent, coach or administrator, visit Browns.com/girlsflag to learn more. Girls flag football is not just a game. It’s a movement. Let’s make Girls High School Flag Football a sanctioned varsity sport across Ohio! Dee and Jimmy Haslam are the Managing Partners, Whitney Haslam Johnson is a Managing Partner and JW Johnson is the Executive Vice President and Partner of the Haslam Sports Group and the Cleveland Browns. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions, comments or corrections regarding this opinion article to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.