AS HAS been previously reported, local sports star Emily Churchill “has successfully trialled for the GB flag football squad.”

She told the Mid-Devon Advertiser that, “from a young age, I’ve enjoyed a variety of sports.”

Netball is perhaps at the fore, after all, she has played for the Teignbridge Titans since U10 level and has also gone on to play for Exeter University and the England college team. At uni, Emily is studying sports science.

Flag football may be a completely new sport to her, “but this does link into several transferable skills that we use in netball and athletics.”

The Team GB website describes it as “A limited contact sport, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier to end a down.”

It is an exciting time to be getting involved with this sport, one that a lot of people know very little about, as it will be making its Olympic Games debut in 2028.

A few new sports will appear in Los Angeles in three years time and flag football is one of them, Emily commenting that “The main focus is getting a high-quality team together to compete” across the pond.

She “was ecstatic to be selected to attend the GB camps and was very proud to be a part of this.”

The former Teignbridge Sports Personality of the Year award recipient originally found out about this opportunity via the Plymouth Vanguard American Football social media pages, then applying to trial through the talent ID process.

Taking place at various universities across the country, Emily was selected from there to join the Team GB training camp. These were held at Loughborough, the first back in May and the second in August, with more still to come.

This is a really exciting opportunity for the youngster and she has the full support of the Titans.

They wrote on Facebook, “We’re backing her all the way and can’t wait to watch this next chapter unfold.”