NFL increases its commitment to flag football, creating a new VP position to help grow the sport 

The NFL has taken another step in its commitment to growing flag football.

The league hired Stephanie Kwok to a newly created position of vice president, head of flag football. Kwok, an entrepreneurial leader, flag football player and graduate of Harvard Business School, will be responsible for driving growth, including domestic and international participation, fan engagement, and commercial and media partnerships.

“So much great work has already been done to grow the game of flag, but continuing to help grow it, it’s so exciting,” Kwok told the AP. “With flag in the LA Olympics, it feels like that’s a really big opportunity to be growing the game. I played flag football myself for the last 10-plus years so just being able to have more kids have the opportunity to play … and being able to spread that more and make flag even more accessible and inclusive is really exciting.”

Kwok most recently was a partner at Reforge, a career-development platform and marketplace for tech industry professionals. She previously served in senior leadership positions at FanDuel and worked at Madison Square Garden, leading various marketing campaigns for the Knicks and Rangers.

The New York native cofounded a company that ran competitive flag tournaments for adults across the tri-state area before the COVID pandemic.

“I was just trying to find as many ways to play as I could,” said Kwok, who was the co-captain of the varsity squash team at Stanford as an undergrad, and also played rugby and tennis competitively. “Football was always a favorite sport of mine.”

In her new role, Kwok will report directly to Troy Vincent, the NFL executive vice president of football operations.

“We are excited that Stephanie is joining our team to apply her proven leadership skills to advance the most affordable, accessible, inclusive, and competitive sport in the world,” Vincent said in a statement. “As a flag player and league organizer and operator, Stephanie brings a passion to exponentially expand the game that has taken the sports world by storm and provides opportunity for all girls, boys, men and women to experience the fun and values of football.”

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press.