TAMPA, Fla. — The Buccaneers may have concluded their 2022 NFL season about a month ago, but that doesn't mean there's no football left to play in the Tampa Bay area.
The team announced on Wednesday that the Buccaneers Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The five-day event will conclude on Saturday, Feb. 25.
The sporting event, which the Bucs say it's the largest of its kind across the country, will feature over 80 high school teams from Florida in 17 different counties and 1,600 student-athletes in a round-robin competition where each team will play every other team. Hillsborough County will have 25 teams participating in the tournament while Pinellas County will have 16 teams.
Flag football games are set to begin at 2 p.m. The team says that representatives from the Bucs, NFL, Nike and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission will welcome the student-athletes before the start of games on each day. They will also wish the players luck ahead of the 2023 spring flag football season.
"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are proud to be at the forefront of supporting gender equality and inclusivity on and off the field by establishing programming and football leagues, creating college scholarships, hosting special events and promoting career development for girls and women in the industry," the Bucs wrote on its website. "Now in its fifth year, the Buccaneers Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic, presented by AdventHealth, is the largest girls flag football tournament in the country and annually showcases some of the top flag football teams in the southeast."
A day before the competition begins, the Bucs will host a kickoff night for over 50 high school girls flag football teams. They will be treated with dinner, locker room tours, meet current Tampa Bay players and have various photo opportunities.
To learn more about the Buccaneers Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic, click here.