NAFA Expands Flag Football Reach in Northern and South-Eastern Nigeria
PRESS RELEASE
Flag Football Expands to Northern and South-Eastern Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria – June 16, 2025 – The Nigerian American Football Association (NAFA), in partnership with the Nigerian School Sports Federation (NSSF), is thrilled to announce the launch of the NSSFFL Activation tour. This initiative aims to introduce and grow the game of flag football among students in Kano, Jigawa, Adamawa, Zamfara, Bauchi, Abia, and Bayelsa states for the first time.
As part of the 2025 season expansion, the Nigerian Secondary Schools Flag Football League (NSSFFL), a grassroots initiative by NAFA, is expanding its footprint from 13 to 24 states. The first half of the year will see the inclusion of seven new states, with plans already underway to activate four more states in the second half of the year.
The NSSFFL Activation tour, running from June 9 to July 2, 2025, is a hands-on effort to lay the foundation for flag football adoption in schools, empower local sports educators, and ignite youth interest in the sport. The tour includes dynamic drills, simplified technical sessions, and structured team play for various age categories (U-12, U-17, and 21+), ensuring that no group is left out.
“Our mission is simple: access and opportunity for every Nigerian child through flag football,” said Tobi Abe, NSSFFL League Coordinator and NAFA Head of Student Programs. “The energy we’ve already seen in the North is inspiring, and we believe that energy will be matched when we eventually make our way down South. We’re not just teaching a sport; we’re building a community and bringing to fore a vision for what’s possible.”
Young student from Government College Umuahia in Abia State. The Secondary School was selected by Team Nigeria General Manager, Bobby Okereke whose Father is an Old Boy of the institution.
Special focus is also given to empowering physical education teachers, state sports coordinators, and local game officials, equipping them with the tools needed to nurture and sustain the sport in their communities. Each activation stop serves as a rallying point for collaboration, cultural exchange, and youth empowerment. The enthusiasm from school leadership, government stakeholders, and the young athletes themselves has been overwhelming, reinforcing NAFA’s belief that sport can unify and transform communities.
This expansion is a key step in NAFA’s broader vision to establish flag football as a staple school sport across Nigeria, providing young people with access to a global game rooted in discipline, inclusion, and opportunity. Since its pilot in 2022, the league has rapidly grown into a national movement, drawing attention from schools, sports bodies, and international partners.
Flag football is more than a game. It’s a platform for national unity, gender inclusion, and youth development. We are super proud and ecstatic to bring this movement to the core North and the South East for the first time, and we’re very optimistic about the long-term dividends it will yield.
– Tobi Abe
For more information, please contact: Tobi Abe, Head of Grassroots Development at tobi@nafa.ng