(Makati City, February 22, 2025)… Did you know that NFL star Camryn Bynum of the Minnesota Vikings spends the NFL off-season in the Philippines? Bynum is Filipino through his mother, Jen, a third generation Filipino-American. He and his family established the nonprofit Bynum Faith Foundation to provide aid and holistic relief to underprivileged communities in the United States and the Philippines through food distribution, helping rebuild homes of disaster victims, providing tools for livelihood and education, and inspiring youth in athletic activities. Bynum goes to the Philippines to personally oversee these projects.
And did you know that Flag football is part of the sports program of the LA 2028 Summer Olympics (LA28)? The Olympic website describes Flag football as a non-tackling version of American football in a five-on-five format. Players wear belts with flags on them, and minimal equipment. Instead of tackling a player to stop a play, defenders try to grab one of their flags. The game’s emphasis is on speed. Flag football is played by an estimated 20 million people in 100 countries— including the Philippines.
When Bynum discovered that the Philippines had its own small Flag football community, and a national sports association–Flag Football Philippines–affiliated with the Philippine Olympic Committee, and players who loved the sport as much as he did, he was inspired to use his platform and resources to help elevate and grow awareness for Flag football in the country. And Camp Beezy was born.
Now going on its 4th edition, Camp Beezy is a series of Flag football training camps where players of all experience levels can learn how to play the game the right way. Bynum brings in professional coaches and trainers, and sometimes his fellow NFL players (the Kansas City Chiefs’ Nikko Remigio, the Chicago Bears’ Elijah Hicks, and the New England Patriots’ Jaylinn Hawkinshave all volunteered for Camp Beezy’s previous editions) to work with the participants. The camp gives participants an opportunity to learn tips and skills from professionals, and apply what they learned in a friendly tournament.
While Flag football arguably doesn’t have a huge following in the Philippines, its inclusion in LA28 could be a turning point. Bynum believes that, and in a 2024 interview with The Game he said, “I think there’s so much good talent out here, especially among Filipinos. We love basketball, and that’s a really athletic sport, you have to be fast, you have to be quick, so the fact that they’re getting into flag football now, it’s just a matter of experience and people actually playing the game.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by RIESA Management, Inc.’s COO, Anthony Raymond, himself an avid Flag football player. RIESA has partnered with the Bynum Faith Foundation to help expand Flag football’s reach in the Philippines. “We were intrigued by the idea of promoting an up and coming international sport. We believe that Flag football is a sport that Filipinos can excel in. This is relatively a new sport to the country that we believe can grow and expand in a few years. The Philippines has put so much into professional sports such as basketball but we have yet to qualify for the Olympics. Maybe it’s time for us to groom Filipino athletes that suit our best physical attributes–speed, agility and quickness,” Raymond explained. And with companies already interested in a possible Philippine team for LA28, RIESA’s support for Flag football would jumpstart things for the sport.
RIESA is a locally-grown service hospitality company that manages and develops individually distinct lifestyle boutique hotels and restaurants. Some of its brands are Hotel Dumaguete, Cala Laiya, La Mensa Dumaguete, and Buglas Isla Cafe (whose popularity and success in Dumaguete prompted the company to open branches in Arcovia, Pasig; Alabang, Westgate, and Batangas).
Bynum is now even more motivated to share and grow the game that he loves— and has given him the life that he has in the Philippines. Camp Beezy Vol. 4 takes place in Vermosa from February 20-22. This time, it will bring in 75 players with the best potential from around the Philippines and Asia to experience “a day in the life of an NFL player.” There will be coaching, training and drills, physical therapy and strategy sessions, and playing, of course. Lots of playing. The goal is for professionals to evaluate the participants with an eye towards forming a national training pool for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.
Anthony Raymond is excited. RIESA is hosting a lunch for Bynum and his team at Buglas Isla Cafe in Alabang on February 23, and he hopes that RIESA’s partnership with the Bynum Faith Foundation is a sign that Flag football will finally have its day in the sun. “I am hoping one day, Flag football can be an after school sports activity offered for boys and girls in grade schools, high school and college level,” he said.
As for Cam Bynum, he knows that Filipino athletes have the speed, smarts, and agility to excel at Flag football, so he will keep on doing what he is doing to spread his love for the game, and to help get a Philippine team to qualify for Flag football in the LA Olympics.
Sidebar: Why Filipinos can Excel in Flag Football
- Speed and Agility – Flag football isn’t about size or height. Filipinos are smaller and quicker, which is an advantage.
- Smarts – The sport requires a lot of strategy and the ability to think on your feet and sometimes improvise. Filipinos have the brains and the ability to do that.
- Hardworking – Filipinos have always worked hard to achieve their goals. Excelling at Flag football is no different. Learning and studying the game, improving skills like throwing, catching, running—can be done even without special camps or workshops.
- Space – Especially in the provinces, there’s always a park or vacant lot somewhere to throw a football around or play a quick game, and just like basketball, you only need 5 players a side.
Sidebar: Flag football 101
- It is a no-contact sport with ‘tackles’ made by removing one of three fabric ‘flags’ attached to the ball-carrier’s waist – one on each side and another at the
- There are 5 players from each team on the field, and matches consist of two 20-minute halves.
- Play starts at the team’s own five-yard line with the centre snapping the ball back to the quarterback who either passes the ball forward to try and find a receiver, or hands off to a running back.
- The play is over when either a flag is removed (a ‘tackle’), the ball-carrier goes out of bounds, or a forward pass hits the ground.
- The team on offence has four attempts – known as downs – to go from their own five-yard line to halfway. If successful, they have another four downs to reach the endzone and score a touchdown. If unsuccessful on either count, the ball is turned over to the opposition who start on their own five-yard line.
- After a touchdown, worth six points, teams go for an extra point – by running or passing – from the five-yard line, or two extra points from the 10-yard line.
- If the scores are tied after 40 minutes, sudden-death overtime begins with the first team to score taking victory.
