The Bears spent the past week in the United Kingdom kicking off the third season of girls flag football, which has now expanded to three cities: Manchester, Birmingham and London.

Running back Roschon Johnson joined manager of youth and high school sports Gustavo Silva on the trip to help facilitate kickoff events in each city. More than 500 girls will participate across the UK leagues this season, highlighting the Bears' commitment to growing the game globally.

The club's success across the pond is directly correlated to their learnings while launching the sport in Chicago in 2021. What began as a small program for 22 Chicago Public League teams quickly expanded to a statewide sport sanctioned by the Illinois High School Association last February. The Bears have also helped expand the game to the college level by hosting the first-ever collegiate women's flag football game in the state of Illinois last month. Silva and the Bears have followed that same model in the UK.

"These groups are all part of the greater strategy and the greater vision, which is to create these opportunities throughout the UK," Silva said. "Although right now they exist as separate leagues, they're really part of a greater movement, which is the blueprint that we follow back home.

"In the states, we started with Chicago, then went to Rockford, the suburbs and then we brought everybody together as a greater flag community. We're really following that same blueprint here in the UK and believing in the process that we know works, because we're doing it the right way. We're doing it at the grassroots level and we're really empowering girls, and then women, to own it."

In just three years, girls flag football in the UK has experienced a similar growth rate. The second-year Manchester league has doubled in size, a brand new Birmingham league is kicking off and the original London league re-launched in new boroughs.

Phoebe Schecter, a UK celebrity known for playing and coaching football as well as serving as a commentator for Sky Sports NFL coverage, also joined the Bears for all three kickoff events.

As a former captain of the Great Britain women's national American football team and a global ambassador for flag football, Schecter has been a firsthand witness to the sport's expansion and has been inspired seeing the sport she loves expand to young girls. She's already felt the impact of the Bears' leagues, as six girls from the Manchester league last season were invited to the Great Britain under 15 team trials.

"It just goes to speak about the level of athleticism, talent, the excitement around the sport," Schecter said. "It's been pretty special for a lot of these girls. They don't want to be practicing or playing with boys, and so they get to come to a space where it's girls only and they're having the most phenomenal time. They're learning something new and it's a competitive playing field here. So they are just having the time of their lives. It's been incredible to see."

Selfishly, Schecter said her first reaction to seeing what the Bears have done in the UK was "oh my goodness, I wish I had this as a kid." What stood out to Schecter was how invested the girls already are in the sport.

At the London event, Schecter witnessed a group of girls skip their hour-long lunch break to continue practicing on their own. She saw the girls go from saying they couldn't catch a football to running routes, snagging passes and, best of all, having a great time.

"It's been so phenomenal for me to be a part of this and see all this because years ago, we didn't have anything like this," Schecter said. "Now off the work that the Bears are doing and the growth of NFL Flag globally, there's inspiration everywhere you look, and you can't help but just fall in love with this amazing sport."

Alongside Silva and Schecter, Johnson is also aiding in the growth of girls flag football, an area he's become passionate about after seeing the impact sports has on young girls through being an uncle and older cousin.

Serving as an ambassador for the sport is a full-circle moment for Johnson, whose fourth-round selection during the 2023 NFL Draft was announced by Majeedah Emilola, a girls flag athlete who played in the inaugural London league.

Johnson's favorite part of the events was interacting with the wide variety of personalities and learning about each of the groups. To be part of watching the girls gain confidence throughout the day and discover their passion for a new sport was exciting for him.

"My ultimate goal is to leave lasting memories," Johnson said. "Hopefully they can look back on this however many years from now on and flag football can grow to a space where they can be like, 'I remember when I was here, and I shared that moment with Roschon Johnson from the Bears.'

"If I could get that memory lasting in their minds years from now, I feel like I've accomplished something. I'm just blessed to be able to come out here and have the opportunity to do that."

While Silva and the Bears will return to the UK this June to attend the Girls Flag Football League Championships, the club's support continues from across the pond as the cities begin their seasons.

At each of the kickoff events, Silva made sure to relay that sentiment of support and pride that the Bears have for all of the girls, who are serving as trailblazers for the sport.

"What we shared with the girls is just how proud we are as an organization of them for having the courage to try something new and to step outside of their comfort zone in a sport that they don't know anything about and has traditionally not been available to them," Silva said.

"To see them come out there and really gain confidence throughout the game, you could see by the end of the day, they felt empowered that there was a place for them in the sport. I just look forward to coming back in June for the championship and just seeing how much growth there is."