8-year-old Cambridge girl guest of honor at football events after story goes viral
Vikings host young girl as guest of honor at TCO
Eight-year-old Elena Easley went viral after a schoolmate told her girls can't play football. Now, she's the guest of honor at the he Collegiate Women's Flag Football Championship. FOX 9's Mary McGuire has the story.
EAGAN, Minn. (FOX 9) - Since sharing her story on social media, Elena Easley's life has taken a couple of unexpected turns, and one of them led her to TCO Performance Center in Eagan for the Collegiate Women's Flag Football Championship this weekend.
Story goes viral
Why you should care:
The field at TCO Performance Center has seen some of football's finest, and Saturday was no exception. The Vikings practice facility hosted college women's teams from across the region and on the sidelines was one of the sport's youngest fans- 8-year-old Elena Easley.
FOX 9 first shared Elena's story back in March. A video of Elena and her mom, Stephanie, went viral after a kid at school told Elena girls can't play football.
The female football community has since wrapped their arms around the second-grader, inviting her to be a guest of honor at games and practices both in Kansas City and at home.
The little girl's story resonated with players competing here who didn't think they would be able to play the sport they love at this level, like University of Wisconsin - Stout flag football quarterback Allison Letcher.
"All of the girls on the team are really excited about the future of flag football," said Letcher.
What's next:
Elena will have the opportunity to play flag football in her hometown of Cambridge soon, and women's flag football will become an Olympic sport in 2028- two sure signs the sport will continue to grow in popularity.