USA Football’s U.S. Flag National Teams that represent our country in international competition will hold the teams’ final practices from Aug. 22-23 in Charlotte before traveling to Finland for the IFAF Flag Football World Championships later this month. Training Camp will take place at the United States Performance Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The 2024 U.S. Men’s and Women’s Flag National Teams are comprised of the best flag football athletes in the country. More information on the athletes, coaches and USA Football executives as well as flag football’s rules and historical information is available in the 2024 U.S. Flag National Teams Media Guide. There are numerous Carolinas connections among the National Teams:
- Mary Kate Bula (Women’s NT Assistant Coach) – Charlotte, N.C. resident; Former National Team athlete
- Amber Clark (Women’s Team Athlete) – Greenville, N.C. native; Former UNC-Chapel Hill track & field athlete; Gold-medal winning National Team athlete in 2023; USA Football Board Member
- Isabella “Izzy” Geraci (Women’s Team Athlete) – Charlotte, N.C. resident; Former USC Upstate (Spartanburg, S.C.) basketball player
- Madison Fulford (Women’s Team Athlete) – Attended Jay M. Robinson HS in Concord, N.C.; Former Limestone University (Gaffney, S.C.) track & field athlete; Gold-medal winning National Team athlete in 2023; Active-duty Air Force
- Michael Better (Men’s Team Athlete) – Charleston, S.C. resident; Air Force veteran
- Johnluis “LuLu” Hernandez (Men’s Team Athlete) – Former Chowan University football athlete (Murfreesboro, N.C.); Gold-medal winning National Team athlete in 2023
- Bruce Mapp (Men’s Team Athlete) – Former Coastal Carolina (Conway, S.C.) wide receiver and member of the school’s athletics Hall of Fame; Gold-medal winning National Team athlete in 2021, 2022 and 2023
This Training Camp is the U.S. National Teams’ final chance to prepare to face world-class competition this summer. The men’s and women’s teams will defend their status as reigning world champions at the 2024 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Flag Football World Championships, in Lahti, Finland from Aug. 27-30. It will be the largest World Championship to date with a total of 32 men’s and 23 women’s national teams from six continents battling for gold.
Interest and participation in flag football are exploding domestically and internationally. This past October, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that flag football will be included in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, further accelerating the sport’s exponential growth. USA Football is the governing body of American football in the United States and the organization responsible for fielding and leading the national flag football teams that represent our country in international competitions, including the LA28 Games.
Last year, the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Flag National Teams won gold medals in Charlotte at the first-ever IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship.