Over the course of five days at Bears training camp, more than 120 high school girls flag football players, most of whom are entering their first season playing this fall, were impacted by a special experience at Halas Hall.
To continue their support of girls flag football across Illinois, the Bears invited five high schools — Simeon Career Academy, Harvard High School, Carver Military Academy, Homewood-Flossmoor High School and Butler College Prep — to watch practice and meet with Bears players to kick off their seasons.
Before each team left Halas Hall, they were given one final surprise — brand new pairs of Nike cleats, courtesy of Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren and his wife, Greta.
"We take it for granted, having a new pair of shoes or a new pair of cleats," Kevin said. "There are so many young athletes that are playing with shoes that do not fit or shoes that are too old or not at the level that they should have. Greta and I thought it would be a great way to say thank you to these talented young athletes and to tell them how much we as the Chicago Bears appreciate them, how much Greta and I appreciate them."
The Warrens have not only seen, but supported the evolution of girls flag football in Illinois since Kevin began as Bears President and CEO in 2023. That was also the same year the first girls from Illinois earned college scholarships to play flag football, the third season of the sport kicked off with more than 100 teams and the second annual state championships were hosted at Halas Hall.
"This is the future of the game," Kevin said. "You talk about growing the game and the talent — this just shows the capabilities that these young girls have to really lead this world."
For Greta, gifting cleats to the five groups of girls felt like an ode to her younger self.
She can still remember the excitement she felt in grade school gym class when the teacher would pull out the bag of belted fluorescent flags, indicating the day's activity was flag football, her favorite.
"That was over 40 years ago, so this is before it became an organized sport," Greta recalled. "It was one of those things that we could play with the guys, and we were competitive. I just love that now it is a sport that is recognized, and the girls have an opportunity to do things that they have been wanting to do for a long time.
"I think we forget women love football as much as men. We may have not been able to play it necessarily, but the fact that now we can participate in flag football, it is joy. It is simply joy. And the cleats, that is just another way for these girls to really execute their passion, and we're thrilled to do that."
Each surprise brought different types of reactions — screams, silent shock, hugs, jumping around and lots of dropped jaws. What they all had in common was an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
"This was such a big surprise," Harvard freshman Mercedes Murales said. "They told us we were getting cleats, but we thought the school was providing them, so this is not what we expected. This is like 10 times more."
While Simeon and Butler had existing girls flag football teams before this season, Harvard, Carver and Homewood-Flossmoor are all kicking off Year 1 of their programs.
For the new players, getting such strong support from the Warrens and the Bears organization as a whole was equal parts unexpected and joyous.
"I'm just super grateful," Homewood-Flossmoor senior Kaila Green said. "I know there weren't a lot of schools that got invited to do this. It's one of those feelings that you don't get all the time because not everybody's going to be on your side.
"So knowing that there's people higher up at the Bears that are rooting for you, it just means a lot to younger people like me and my team."
The Warrens were very intentional about the gift they wanted to give the teams. Flag football requires precise and quick athletic movements as well as speed, so providing best-in-class footwear can help the athletes not just perform at a high level, but do so safely.
That intention was seen and appreciated by the girls. The surprises were the most fitting way to cap off a perfect day at Halas Hall for each of the five teams, who will now head into their seasons confident, prepared and knowing the have the Bears' backing.
"We don't even know [the Warrens], so we really appreciate the surprise," Butler College Prep sophomore Fallan White said. "Some people on our team are beginners and don't have cleats or don't have the right ones, so it really means a lot to my team. And I just want to say thank you."
