The Brief

Flag football is set to make its debut on the international stage at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

The sport is similar to tackle football where players wear “flags” around their waistline — an invention patented by Arizona teacher Porter Wilson — and opponents snatch the flags off their opponents rather than tackling them.

Game of inclusion

Dillon Couvillon, with the Los Angeles Flag Football League, has noticed a growing interest in the sport. The Los Angeles-based adult league for queer players and their allies, part of the National Gay Flag Football League, currently has 185 active players on the fall roster and it’s the first year they have added a women’s team to their structure.

“We have a waitlist,” Couvillon said. “It's a very inclusive sport. We like to pride ourselves on not only being inclusive of gender and sexuality, but also of experience levels.” (Here's where you can join the waitlist.)

The sport has a “lower barrier to entry,” he said, compared to tackle football. It also “has a lower risk factor and a lower competitive nature, but still something that's an opportunity to build a community, have fun, connect, and compete with others.”

The United States will feature male and female Olympic teams, which Couvillon said is a reflection of the growing expansion of the sport among high school girls.

“We've worked with and had conversations with the L.A. Chargers on a couple of events that have been put on to increase this exposure and the sport and awareness to young female athletes,” he said.

First professional league

Brian Michael Cooper is president and chief operating officer of the American Flag Football League, a professional sports league set to launch in April of next year. Like Couvillon, he’s also noticed an uptick in interest in the sport among women and youth leagues.

The league is planning teams for Boston, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Nashville, he said, with teams that consist of 12 to 15 players who play an eight-week regular season from late April through June.

The league, he said, will be the nation’s first ever professional flag football league, a testament to its growing interest.

The National Football League, Cooper said, has been instrumental in expanding flag football at the youth level and for prep sports, expanding access to women’s high school teams.

And now with the sport set to be a part of the 2028 Olympics, it would be a “motivating factor” for athletes to compete on the national level.

Couvillon is confident some players from the Los Angeles Flag Football League will feature on the national level. He says he’s willing to bet on it.

“We are highly competitive, we feature a lot of former D1 athletes as well as former professional athletes,” he said.

Selection criteria for the national team

Eric Mayes is a managing director at USA Football which is responsible for selecting and leading the U.S. National teams.

The first step in building those teams will be trials, where athletes are invited to play after having been scouted across USA Football sanctioned events.

“They come to trials. They run through tests. They run through drills,” Mayes said. “They get on the field. They engage with each other. They engage with coaches. We use that to whittle the invited list down to 12 active rosters of men and women that travel across the world to compete.”

“We have about five years of a runway leading into the L.A. 2028 Olympics, and we have a number of competitions between now and then, starting with the World Championships next year.”

Students within the Los Angeles Unified School District showed improvements on state reading, math and science standardized tests for a third consecutive year, district authorities announced Tuesday.

Superintendent Andrés Chait revealed the preliminary results at the annual opening-of-schools address at East L.A.’s Garfield High School— his first as the district’s leader since the board appointed him to the job in June.

“ These are not just numbers on a page,” Chait said to an audience that included about 1,000 principals, administrators and district supporters. “They are the result of your passion, your persistence, your belief in what students can achieve. These are collective accomplishments.

"They reflect the dedication, skill, and commitment of our entire community,” he said.

Jai Gant-Leau, principal of Eagle Tree Continuation High School, said the “back-to-basics” focus of Chait’s speech was a welcome departure from the tone of recent opening addresses.

“We will continue to rise for the outcomes and expectations for the success of our students. That's the message I got,” Gant-Leau said. “Very different than the others where it was a lot of… bells and whistles.”

Why it matters

Student achievement, as measured by test scores, plummeted during the pandemic. Los Angeles Unified’s growth in 2025 outpaced the state, as test scores exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

This year the percentage of students in all grades who met or exceeded the standard are 39.7% for math, 48.3% for English and 32.1% for science. It’s unclear how this compares to students statewide because those results have yet to be released.

Challenges ahead

Chait also acknowledged the challenges posed by declining enrollment, community fears of immigration enforcement actions and proposed budget cuts.

 “The decisions will be hard, but we cannot lose sight of what defines us,” Chait said. “We are the system that lifts students to opportunity, turns potential into achievement, creates spaces of belonging, healing, growth.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

We hope you’ve gotten used to the hot weather, because it’s going to be here for a while.

The National Weather Service has issued yet another heat advisory for much of Southern California, less than a week after other high-temperature warnings were lifted.

This week’s advisory will be in place from 10 a.m. Wednesday through Monday. Forecasters expect temperatures to climb steadily over the course of Wednesday and Thursday.

The San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and other inland areas in L.A., as well as Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will likely see highs ranging from the mid-90s to about 105 degrees. Areas closer to the coast, including downtown Los Angeles and much of Orange County, will hit the 90s. Beaches will hover mostly in the upper 70s.

Humidity will also add to the discomfort. Even though it’s decreasing slightly, it makes cooling down harder, especially at night.

People who work outdoors or do not have air conditioning are especially at risk from the heat and humidity, along with people over 65, young children and other sensitive populations.

Fire risk

Forecasters are warning that conditions are ripe for fires, driven by a combination of wind and dry vegetation.

Southern California hasn’t seen much rain recently, despite the humidity, leaving plants with little moisture and turning them into the perfect fuel.

“Even though the air feels kind of moist, we're in the time of season where it doesn't matter. The fuels are dry and they're ready to go,” said NWS meteorologist Ryan Kittell.

Kittel said people should take extra care with anything that could create a spark, and residents in fire-prone areas should remain aware of their surroundings in case a fire starts.

The fire risk is likely to be concentrated in a few specific areas that will experience higher winds than others, including parts of the 5 Freeway corridor in northern L.A. County, especially around the Grapevine, and in southern Santa Barbara County.

For most of the region, though, winds should stay fairly mild.

Dangerous beach conditions

Southern Californians also have to contend with some ocean-specific risks this week.

Forecasters expect dangerously large waves and strong rip currents to hit the coastline at a time when the heat may drive more people to the beach. The conditions are expected to persist through the weekend.

If you decide to head to the beach, it’s a good idea to ask a lifeguard for advice on the conditions before entering the water. It’s also recommended to swim only near occupied lifeguard stands, stay off of rock jetties and avoid turning your back to the waves.

South-facing stretches of coastline will bear the brunt of the swell, which is being driven by two tropical storms churning hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean.

“Those two systems generated the winds and the waves locally that are pushing towards us, and so that's creating elevated surf and some stronger currents than normal,” Kittel said.

The swell is not expected to cause significant coastal flooding as high tides remain relatively low.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Free transportation to the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area swim beach will be available this week as East LA families continue to seek relief from another heat wave and the aftermath of the Lineage warehouse fire.

Los Angeles County is offering complimentary transportation Wednesday through Saturday at select Eastside parks so residents can enjoy a day at the lake at no cost.

More than a month after the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire, many residents continue to report persistent odors from rotting food and cleanup efforts. Because of the ongoing air quality concerns and community complaints, Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation has canceled its local aquatic programming.

To ensure families still have access to summer recreational activities, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis directed resources toward providing the “beach bus” program to Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area Swim Beach in Irwindale.

Read below for more information on the free shuttle services, schedules and more. 

Pickup locations

Belvedere Aquatic Center

5035 1st St. East Los Angeles, CA 90022

Obregon Park Pool

4021 1st St. Los Angeles, CA 90063

Salazar Park Pool 

3864 Whittier Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90023

City Terrace Park Pool

1126 N. Hazard Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90063

Shuttle dates and times 

• Wednesday, July 22
• Thursday, July 23
• Friday, July 24
• Saturday, July 25

Morning trip: 

• Check in at 8:30 a.m. 
• The bus departs East LA at 9 a.m. 
• The bus leaves Santa Fe Dam to go back to East LA at 12 p.m.

Afternoon trip: 

• Check in at 12:30 p.m. 
• The bus departs East LA at 1 p.m. 
• The bus leaves Santa Fe Dam to go back to East LA at 4 p.m. 

What to know

No registration or proof of address is required, but children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Bring your own food and drinks. Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.