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It’s only been a few weeks since I completed my first year as CEO of BAFA and I’ve been reflecting on the journey we’ve taken.

It’s been over 12 months of learning, growth and of laying foundations for the future of American football in the UK and this week I’m proud to share Together to Inspire – our new three-year strategy to inspire the next generation of British American football players, coaches, officials and volunteers by bringing the Britball (British American Football) community together alongside its partners and supporters.

Since securing our initial investment by Sport England we’ve made strong strides as a national governing body.

One of our first priorities was to reset the National Flag Football League under BAFA’s direct management, while reconnecting with clubs and players and also fostering a more inclusive, development-focused culture.

The support from the investment has allowed for some immediate short-term participation growth, but we now have a big opportunity in this space to grow the sport as we build towards the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.

We’ve also invested in our digital infrastructure – recognising that sound systems and processes are critical for long-term sustainability.

Platforms like JustGo are being enhanced to capture better data, helping us understand who’s playing and how to support them.

And in the meantime, our team continues to balance the efforts of our incredible volunteers with the consistency brought by skilled staff and contractors that then align into our chair and board members.

It hasn’t always been easy, but we think all these efforts are vital to our future.

Leading for now and what’s next

A key lesson this year was balancing ‘the urgent and important’ with the long-term priorities.

There’s always something pressing – a complaint to attend to, another scheduling to fix or a new opportunity for growth to be pursued.

But for me it’s been key to be able to step back away from the day-to-day business and connect with members across the game to ask them about the kind of sport we want to build.

That’s what our new long-term strategy aims to answer.

With Together to Inspire we’re not just solving today’s problems – we’re building tomorrow’s potential.

And we’re doing so in continuing our alignment with Sport England’s long-term strategy, Uniting the Movement, by creating a sport that’s inclusive, connected and sustainable.

Whether it’s supporting clubs, widening access or growing the workforce, we’re proud to be part of that mission and the work we have delivered in year one.

Listening, learning and leading with community

The biggest insights in our strategy have come from conversations.

Hearing from coaches, volunteers, officials and players has shaped our understanding of what’s needed, but this is an ongoing activity.

Through National Flag League resets, youth competitions and GB performance camps, we’re creating more spaces for meaningful dialogue – not just consultation, but connection with our community.

U19 regional 11v11 pilot

In 2024, we piloted a regional 11v11 league for under-19 players – removing barriers while offering meaningful development.

It reached 400 players across 12 camps and six fixtures, and it led to 80 additional GB trial invites.

The result? A boost of 16% in under-19 registrations!

The pilot also developed new coaches, several of whom now contribute to GB performance teams.

This model reflects the Uniting the Movement’s focus on youth engagement and inclusive talent pathways.

Strengthening safeguarding

This year, we implemented MyConcern – a secure case management platform powered by First Advantage.

It streamlines case-tracking and integrates DBS checks via JustGo to streamline the process and make it easy and secure for the user.

We’re also working with CPSU and NSPCC to ensure our policies reflect best practice, by furthering a safe and trusted environment for all.

Looking ahead

There’s a lot to be excited about, including:

• reimagining our participation pyramid around accessibility and values
• building a flag-performance system for LA28 and beyond – backed by uksport
• strengthening clubs, empowering volunteers and investing in coaches and officials.

The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games present a huge opportunity for us, not just for visibility, but for exciting partnerships with the likes of the NFL UK and BUCS that’ll aid long-term growth together.

We look at these games as the beginning, rather than the end.

Looking back, I’m proud of how far we’ve come – and even more excited about what’s next.

We’ll keep working with our clubs, volunteers and partners to build a thriving future for contact and flag football in the UK.

Together to Inspire is more than a strategy – it’s a goal to work with our partners to create a sport that is values-driven, to make a difference for our clubs, workforce and athletes.

This funding, while a small proportion of The FA’s overall turnover, drives initiatives aimed at tackling inequalities and increasing participation among under-represented groups.

What we've learnt from football 

There are different learnings we’ve achieved from these initiatives that are also contributing to Sport England's long-term strategy – Uniting the Movement. 

Efforts should be made to keep girls in the sport 

Recognising the common challenge of drop-off in girls’ sports participation during teenage years, The FA developed ‘Squad’– a programme that’s designed to be a fun, non-competitive initiative for girls aged 12-14.

This model, which could be replicated across other sports, prioritises enjoyment and social connection, and aims to retain girls in football while building their confidence and leadership skills.

In addition, they have developed a new talent ID programme called Discover My Talent, shifting the way they find and support talented footballers.

The FA’s learnings from this programme highlight that moving away from a traditional approach, focused on existing clubs and academies, enables them to identify potential "anywhere, anytime."

This approach aims to identify talented players across the country, within diverse groups and at any kind of football events and sessions to broadening opportunities across different communities, resulting in more diverse talent pathways for women and girls.

The FA reports that they are seeing positive results, with increased diversity in the top talent programmes.

Increasing opportunities for disabled players 

The FA is committed to growing para- and disability football and to closing the disability gap, partly through initiatives like ‘Comets’ – a recreational program for disabled children aged 5-11 that provides fun and accessible entry opportunities to the sport.

While aiming to expand Comets and the provision of disability football, The FA acknowledges challenges such as workforce training, confidence levels of local coaches to support disabled people and logistical barriers to attending sessions – like the time and financial costs of travel – for para-athletes.

In response, The FA are providing disability training and toolkits for clubs, called Journey to Inclusion, with the aim of proactively addressing these challenges.

The FA have identified potential for cross-sector collaboration and knowledge sharing with other system partners to continue to address these difficulties, as well as using football as a hook to engage disabled people and connect them with other sports.

Investing in the workforce to reflect the communities served

As many system partners have told us, local champions have an important role for creating local change.

Recognising the need for a diverse workforce to help diversify participation, The FA is actively working to increase the number of Black and Asian coaches in grassroots football.

And by targeting specific localities and offering more coaching opportunities, The FA aims to create a coaching landscape that reflects the communities it serves.

The role of local partnerships for building a stronger ecosystem

The FA is increasingly working locally, tailoring programmes to the unique needs of different communities.

Their experience is that partnerships with community groups and schools are key to reaching under-represented groups.

Ensuring safeguarding standards when partnering with non-accredited organisations is recognised as a challenge, so they are actively supporting community organisations in developing their safeguarding processes through training and qualifications.

Looking at what's to come

The new Learning Synthesis report based on the year two evaluation report will be published soon with more insights from the ongoing evaluation.

It will also include the collective contributions that partners are making to changing the sport and physical activity system.

We hope this series of blogs have been useful and if you have any comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you, so please get in touch.