The Russian Mixed-Gender U15 team took home the silver medal prize from the 2026 European Flag Football Championships. For those who don’t know, flag football is non-contact American football which is growing in popularity and Russia has become a major international player in the sport. Italy hosted the 2026 IFAF European Youth Flag Football Championships for the third time where the sport’s stars of tomorrow competed in Lido delle Nazioni near Ferrara from September 24 to 26. First held in 2016, the tournament showcases the progress of youth flag football across the continent as European nations develop talented athletes on the road to participation at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Below are the thoughts of Nikita Shemyakin the coach of Team Russia:
“🇷🇺 That’s what a cool gang you’ve assembled.
A lot of work has been done for children’s football in recent years. Different. Useful and futile, difficult and not so difficult. But a lot has been done. I’m sure I wouldn’t have gone part of this way if I hadn’t met such wonderful children on my way.
Children who you want to spend time with, who you want to lead forward, mentor, motivate, and support. Children for whom you want to expand your horizons, break through walls, go where you are not welcome. For this, I am very grateful to fate, the parents of the children, and in the case of the national team, their coaches!
My team are the silver medalists of Europe in flag football. One of my students is among the two best quarterbacks in Europe among players of his age. An even bigger group of my Vologda guys had an incredibly cool tournament, even if they didn’t take a prize. And yet, they’re just cool guys!
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the coaching staff and the staff of the national team. You are super cool!
🇷🇺 I would like to thank Viktor Borisovich Skapishev, the head coach of the national team, and Igor Olegovich Chernolutsky, President of the Russian American Football Federation, for their trust.
Also, thanks to the fans who watched pixels and were very worried. That wasn’t the goal, but it seems we’ve managed to bring our large community together for a while. Cool!
We certainly have something to be proud of, a lot of work has been done, but most importantly, I saw and felt a huge field for growth, a desire to grow, develop, and study football. 🏈
And I’m very happy about it.”
This image below shows the roster of the team that won the silver medal, but sadly it is only available in the original Russian:
The squad consisted of boys and girls from Vologda and Moscow primarily.
