The Warrens have not only seen, but supported the evolution of girls flag football in Illinois since Kevin began as Bears President and CEO in 2023. That was also the same year the first girls from Illinois earned college scholarships to play flag football, the third season of the sport kicked off with more than 100 teams and the second annual state championships were hosted at Halas Hall.
“This is the future of the game,” Kevin said. “You talk about growing the game and the talent — this just shows the capabilities that these young girls have to really lead this world.”
For Greta, gifting cleats to the five groups of girls felt like an ode to her younger self.
She can still remember the excitement she felt in grade school gym class when the teacher would pull out the bag of belted fluorescent flags, indicating the day’s activity was flag football, her favorite.
“That was over 40 years ago, so this is before it became an organized sport,” Greta recalled. “It was one of those things that we could play with the guys, and we were competitive. I just love that now it is a sport that is recognized, and the girls have an opportunity to do things that they have been wanting to do for a long time.
“I think we forget women love football as much as men. We may have not been able to play it necessarily, but the fact that now we can participate in flag football, it is joy. It is simply joy. And the cleats, that is just another way for these girls to really execute their passion, and we’re thrilled to do that.”
Each surprise brought different types of reactions — screams, silent shock, hugs, jumping around and lots of dropped jaws. What they all had in common was an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
“This was such a big surprise,” Harvard freshman Mercedes Murales said. “They told us we were getting cleats, but we thought the school was providing them, so this is not what we expected. This is like 10 times more.”