Edmunds was joined by Jets linebacker Quincy Williams and Great Britain Women’s Flag stars Ellie Thorpe, Kellie Barrett and Kate Bruinvels.

“It meant a lot just having the opportunity to come out with the Bears and get behind what they’re doing,” Edmunds said, “just support the girls out there, participate and give them encouraging words and affirmation that there’s light at the end of the tunnel as far as what they want to do in life. Seeing how much fun they had, seeing the passion they had and the excitement they had, it meant a lot just to witness it. The energy was there.

“To see the effect that it has on the world, just other countries getting involved and wanting to get behind this and start participating as well — I think this is just the beginning. And I think it’s the beginning of something special.”

In just a year the league nearly doubled in size going from 12 to 21 teams that will compete in two conferences across the London boroughs of Ealing and Lambeth. Participation numbers have more than doubled, increasing from 120 to 260.

Barrett has quickly seen girls flag football and American football grow in the United Kingdom over the last few years. She believes these types of events hosted by NFL teams are empowering young girls to get involved with the sport.

“I think it’s incredible,” Barrett said. “When you think of American football, you think of the NFL. So knowing that NFL teams are willing to empower women in a sport that is essentially male-dominated is huge. I think the fact that they’re willing to give back to the community to get girls involved is so important. It’s such a nice thing especially being a woman who came into it from such a young age. A day like this — I would have loved it when I was a kid.”