Women's flag football has basketball players trading sneakers for cleats ahead of 2028 LA Games

A year ago, point guard O'Mariah Gordon was leading Florida State into the second round of the NCAA Tournament . Not only is the 5-foot-5 grad student now at another school, but playing an entirely different sport . Shooting jumpers has been replaced by covering receivers and catching passes at Warner University in Florida.

It’s opened up a whole new lane for her — one that could possibly end up with Gordon on the 2026 Team USA flag football squad for world championships this summer in Germany. Down the road, maybe even on the team when the sport makes its Olympic debut at the 2028 LA Games . Same with Loryn Goodwin, a second-round pick by the Dallas Wings in the WNBA draft who pivoted and turned her talents toward the football field.

The sport is so new that USA Football is looking for players in all sorts of places. Gordon and Goodwin were among the athletes named to a pair of training camps this spring in Chula Vista, California. Their journeys could be just the start of a migration of players to the football field from the basketball floor or the soccer pitch or the volleyball court or the world of track.

“Friends that I have played basketball with are asking me, ‘How did you get into this? How did you start? ’” said Goodwin, who played hoops at North Texas, Butler, UTSA and Oklahoma State, where she earned All-Big 12 honors.