Prep Spotlight: Former Falcon helps U.S. team win gold again

With former South Central and UNC star Amber Clark once again at the forefront, the U.S. Women’s Flag Football National Team took home the gold medal at the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships on Friday.

The U.S. Men’s Flag team also captured gold at the event for an American sweep.

Clark, a Greenville native who took her athletic talents from South Central to Chapel Hill, where she excelled on the track team, trekked with the women’s team to Lahti, Finland, for this year’s IFAF Flag World Championships event.

The top-ranked women’s team defeated Mexico for the second straight year, 31-18, capping a perfect 8-0 run in the tournament field of 23 total teams.

In all, it was the third straight title for the U.S. women.

The U.S. Men’s Flag National Team defeated Austria 53-21 in its gold medal match.

Clark is not only a prominent player on the international stage but also is a USA Football board member and is the head coach of women’s flag football at Saint Mary in Kansas. A defensive back for the U.S. team, she made a gold-clinching interception against Mexico in last year’s championship game in Charlotte.

Others associated with the U.S. Flag teams with North Carolina roots include Charlotte natives Mary Kate Bula (women’s assistant coach) and Izzy Geraci (women’s team member), Concord native Madison Fulford (women’s team member) and Murfreesboro native and men’s team member LuLu Hernandez.

This year’s championships were the largest ever on the heels of the announcement last October that flag football will be part of the program for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. A total of 55 teams across the men’s and women’s divisions, totaling 660 athletes from six continents, battled for gold with the U.S. teams emerging victorious.