Rochester’s Jacob Atley is one of Australia’s best flag football players, and he’s got 2028 Olympic glory on the brain. Photos: Brock Bentley.
With its global reach on the rise and its recent announcement as a sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, flag football has become a popular sport in Australia.
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As one of its biggest advocates, Rochester native Jacob Atley is leading the charge for Australia to feature in the biggest sporting event on the planet in just under three years’ time.
Flag football is slightly different from its more popular contact counterpart, with a team of 12 ‒ five offensive players, five defensive players and two swing players who can play both.
Atley is a natural with the oval ball and was once a young and promising AFL prospect, captaining the Bendigo Pioneers and playing for Essendon’s VFL side.
He comes from a long line of athletes, as his brother Joe currently plays in the AFL for Port Adelaide and eldest brother Shaun played 234 games for North Melbourne before being delisted at the end of the 2021 season.
The 25-year-old made the switch from VFL to flag football in 2023, quickly finding himself on the Victorian state team playing in nationals as a wide receiver and recently visited Los Angeles to train and play against teams from the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Atley celebrates with a teammate after winning the 2025 IFAF Men's Asia-Oceania Flag Football Championship, a game he scored two touchdowns in.
In March 2025, Atley was named in the green and gold contingent to represent his country at the 2025 IFAF Men's Asia-Oceania Flag Football Championship in Dingbo, China.
In a pool with New Zealand and American Samoa, Australia went a perfect 4-0 through the group stage ‒ finishing top of the pool and with a place in the Asia-Oceania final.
Facing Japan, Australia won the big dance 23-19, with Atley scoring two touchdowns and earning them the gold medal and qualification to the IFAF Flag Football World Championship in Dusseldorf, Germany next year.
Being top of the tree at the world championships will earn them automatic qualification to the Olympics ‒ a goal Atley and the Australian squad are keen to accomplish.
“We put in a lot of work this year training-wise and studying the playbook and going in we were confident in ourselves and in our team, so, to go undefeated against those other teams and then win the gold medal was terrific,” he said when reflecting on the Asia-Oceania final.
Atley with the Australian men’s team after the win.
“That's the goal, we’ve got a three or four-year plan in terms of the lead-up to the 2028 Olympics and the 2032 games in Brisbane as well.
“First we need to make sure we qualify, which we're currently set up to do heading over to Germany for the World Cup.
“I think the top two or three teams in that tournament next year, they'll instantly qualify for the Olympics, so that's our main goal currently, and then we'll sort of set new goals if we do qualify.”
Reflecting on the rapid growth of the sport, Atley has enjoyed seeing more people, both male and female, play the sport, as he has played an active role in launching a women’s competition in Melbourne.
“I've seen it over the last two years at least just with the participation and even the local leagues, it's just growing especially in the women's side of it as well,” he said.
“Fortunately, our women's team for Australia, they also qualified, they got the silver medal, and they'll be heading over to Germany as well, which is great.
“It's growing rapidly and many people are starting to participate, which is good.
“I think the announcement that it's entered into the Olympics is just growing the entire sport of American football.
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