2026 Finland Team LA Development Squad Announced
The national development team of women’s flag football in Finland, Team LA, has been selected for the 2026 season. This year, seven new athletes have been elevated to Team LA. The new members bring international experience, a background in international-level athletics, and young flag football players who have tasted success at the European Championships. The team consists of 21 athletes eager for Olympic spots.
Team LA is the development program of the Finnish national flag football team, aimed at identifying and developing the next generation of top players. The team meets regularly for training camps and tests, and its best athletes advance to the adult national team.
Juuso Marno, who works in the steering group of Finland’s flag football Olympic project and the coaching team of the women’s national team, comments on the selections made:
-The Paris European Championships in 2025 showed us where the international level currently stands, and the athletes selected have been chosen based on criteria such as speed and agility, which are requirements for almost every position. Additionally, the average age of the group has been lowered, and we are starting to look towards Brisbane 2032 alongside the Los Angeles games. The development group has included U17 athletes, for whom the 2027 European Championships and LA28 will come too quickly, but who have the potential to become core players in the coming years.
Marno also acknowledges and thanks the domestic flag football veterans who will not continue in the project at this stage:
While the focus is largely on the coming years, the foremost thought is to thank once again those who have now ended their national team careers. Finnish flag football has been developed for a long time mainly by the players themselves, especially female players. The sport would not be where it is in Finland without the passion and desire of these women to be at the top of the sport. Thank you!
Team LA athletes for the 2026 season
New members
Petra Häggqvist, sprinter, HKV
Petra Häggqvist is a former top Finnish sprinter who ended her athletics career in 2025. Häggqvist’s exceptional speed background and skills gained from competitive sports bring additional speed to the development group, initially utilized in the rusher role and later in ball-related play.
According to Petra, learning a completely new sport is fascinating and provides a suitable challenge both physically and mentally:
-I am grateful for the opportunity to be an athlete again, with a goal to train towards, and surrounded by an amazing group from whom I can learn a lot. Most importantly, this may be my chance to experience sports in a new way! I plan to learn from past experiences and do things differently.
Naema Högström (U17), handball, HIFK
Naema Högström was part of the team that won the U17 European Championship bronze for Finland last autumn. According to the coaching staff, she is developing into a top athlete in her sport (handball), and the results were evident in Team LA’s combine tests. Due to her age, Naema cannot yet participate in the women’s national team competitions, but the Team LA development team provides her with an environment where tactical skills in flag football are built upon exceptional physical attributes.
Tiia Jansen, American football, Trojans
Tiia Jansen is one of the top names among the wide receivers of the national American football team and the Women’s Maple League. She has also represented Finland in the flag football national team at the 2024 World Championships. In the 2025 season, Tiia played American football in the United States, gaining valuable playing experience in the sport’s homeland. In the 2026 season, she will be busy with the American football championship year:
-This summer, the focus will be on American football and also in the national team, where we aim for a spot in the European Championship finals! Playing football in the USA was an incredible experience, and I also got to see how flag football is developing there and how motivated female players are in the sport!
It’s cool to be part of this project!
Lotta Kytömaa, flag football, Helsinki Flag Football
Lotta Kytömaa has been involved in the youth national team activities of flag football since the 2023 season. She was part of the U17 national team that won the European Championship bronze at the end of the 2025 season. Kytömaa’s performances at training camps and in competition situations convinced the coaches of the development program to include her in the Team LA group. The young player is excited about her inclusion among the top athletes in flag football:
–I am really excited about the opportunity to join the women’s team and experience new moments in flag football.
Oona Mäkinen (U17), basketball, BC Nokia
Oona Mäkinen is another U17 player who has been elevated to Team LA to develop as a flag football player. The coaches of the development program were particularly impressed by her speed and agility attributes.
In the development team, Oona will have the opportunity to develop her tactical and technical skills in flag football on top of her proven physical attributes. Due to her age, she cannot yet participate in the women’s national team competitions.
Emmi Ruotsalainen, basketball, HNMKY
Emmi Ruotsalainen made a stunning entry into flag football and youth national team activities in the summer of 2023 with the U15 national team. The young player excelled in the European Championship tournament in the role of a defensive rusher, sacking opponents’ quarterbacks. In the 2024 season, she was part of the U17 national team that won the bronze medal.
Last season, Emmi was a basketball scholarship athlete in the United States and could not participate in securing a second age group medal from the flag football European Championships. Now she is excited to return to flag football and its national team activities:
-It’s great to be part of new opportunities and goals and to learn new things from experienced players.
Unna Törmänen, American football, Helsinki Wolverines, Sprayberry HS
Unna Törmänen is Finland’s first flag football scholarship athlete at an American high school. She impressed in her debut season in the homeland of flag football and has already received eight scholarship offers from local universities after her first year.
Törmänen has a solid background in American football and was named the Rookie of the Year in the Women’s Maple League in 2024. That same year, she was part of the Finnish U17 flag football national team that won bronze at the European Championships.
Determined, Törmänen has clear plans for her career:
-My personal goal is to develop and become one of the key players in the women’s national team and give my all to help the team qualify for the Olympics. In the USA, the main goal next fall is to secure a flag football scholarship to a good university.
The goal is a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
In the women’s and men’s divisions of the flag football Olympic tournament in Los Angeles, six of the world’s best teams will compete for Olympic gold. Automatic spots are reserved for the U.S. women’s and men’s teams. The remaining five spots in both divisions will be determined at the 2026 World Championships and the 2027 continental championships, and finally at the decisive Olympic Qualifier Series tournament, which will invite the two best-performing countries from the continental championships of the five continents.
The Finnish national teams did not qualify for the summer 2026 World Championships, so the first hurdle to overcome is the European Championship tournament scheduled for August 2027. This summer, the women’s national team is seeking international playing experience at an international tournament in Prague.
The Finnish Olympic Committee supports new sports on the way to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Flag football is among the sports that have been granted special funding. With the special funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture, the top-level sports activities of the sport are being developed.
Photo: Laura Helminen
