Mexico quarterback Diana Flores is leading a movement for women in flag football

At the age of 8, standing on a field in Mexico City, playing flag football with a group of 16-year-old girls, Diana Flores could never have known she’d fall in love. That fast, agile little girl who grew up watching her father play tackle football—a sport allocated to men, who also got paid to play—would never have imagined herself as a star. Not even when she was 13, playing on an all-boys flag football team, and outrunning them all, in a flag football league in Mexico City.

Even when she earned a spot on the Mexico Women’s Flag Football team at just 16, darting and bobbing across the field with the force of a tornado, she still didn’t see the game as a viable career path. How could she? She didn’t see women flag football stars in the NFL or in commercials representing the sport. She didn’t see stadiums full of fans cheering for women, all of whom could give any male player a run for their money.

Diana Flores is changing the game

Yet here she is—a role model for what’s possible. Not just for women in flag football, but for women in all sports. A model for what’s possible for girls who don’t want to have to answer questions about their value, their talents or their right to be on the field.

If you ask Flores what she most wants to be known for, though, it’s one thing: promise.

The promise that the future she didn’t see as a girl will not be the reality for girls today. The promise that flag football will pay a living wage, allowing women to quit their day jobs and give everything to the sport instead of struggling to pay the bills while also playing the sport they love. The promise that Latinas and women will see themselves represented in sports arenas everywhere, for any sport, but especially for flag football.

“It’s a very inclusive sport,” Flores says, adding that “one of the things I love the most about flag is that it has no stereotypes regarding athletes. So no matter who you are, no matter where you’re from, no matter your strengths, you can always find a place on the field.”

This article originally appeared in the May issue of SUCCESS+ digital magazine. Photo by ©Trevor M Smith.