2026 Pittsburgh
NFL Draft
The auditorium of Linton Middle School in Penn Hills filled with the excited chatter of four- to eight-year-olds on the evening of April 17, as they awaited their sporting fate.
The participants – students from all across the region – lined up in the corridors before they were called on to the stage in small teams.
Announcer Erik Cooper introduced each team one by one — the Cowboys, Eagles, Jets, Lions, Steelers and others — as students took the stage with their coaches. Some waved and some danced, each dressed in their best attires, while proud families watched.
The room erupted with applause and cheers as each name was called.
It was the third annual live draft for the Pittsburgh National League (PNL) that marked the beginning of the tournament’s spring season.
“This year is even more special because next week the pros are coming and they will be downtown,” Cooper said, referring to the NFL Draft scheduled to start Thursday. “This gives them a chance to experience a real thing.”
Cooper and co-leader Rashad Colvin have essentially created a mini NFL tournament, complete with the draft, a red carpet, training camps and an honors ceremony at the end of every season.
The Pittsburgh National League started in 2004 as a YMCA program in Penn Hills. It was nearly orphaned 14 years later when the Penn Hills branch closed during a broader restructuring by the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, which had filed for bankruptcy.
Recognizing how important the league had become to the community, Colvin and Cooper stepped in to keep it alive. They formed a nonprofit and partnered with the NFL Flag Football to make the program an official NFL affiliate.
The partnership tied the league to a national brand and secured official NFL jerseys for its teams.
“It makes you feel like you’re really part of the Steelers team,” Cooper said.
Since then, the PNL has continued to grow and has earned recognition from the NFL Network, including the NFL League of the Year in 2024. Recent developments include the launch of an NFL-focused podcast, a travel flag football team and a news blog.
This year’s spring season will have over 500 students divided into 59 teams competing across four divisions — the rookie, the co-ed, the all-girls and the high school girls. Most games will take place on the Penn Hills School District soccer field. While players come from across the region, with some even crossing state lines, most attend Pittsburgh Public Schools, Penn Hills School District and from the Turtle Creek, Swissvale and Woodland Hills areas.
From training camps to drafts
The PNL live draft is modeled after the NFL Draft, setting it apart from other flag football leagues in the region.
Each season begins with a training camp where players learn the drills and skills of flag football, such as running routes or how to position themselves to pull flags. Players then participate in scrimmage games where coaches scout players they want on their team. Coaches get to select the NFL team they want to represent. At the end of the training camp, all coaches meet for a live draft to pick players for their team. Coaches start with the Rookie division, for children between the ages of four and six, and proceed to the co-ed and all-girls divisions for players between seven and 14.
AJ Collins, a teacher at Elizabeth Forward School District, coaches a couple of teams in the PNL. He said each coach approaches the draft differently, depending on what their team needs.
“It’s really interesting when somebody else takes that person that you really, really wanted coming around to your pick, but you know, you got to make quick adjustments.”
Former Steelers player Rashard Mendenhall coaches his son, Mantis’ team, the Eagles. He said the PNL mirrors the NFL, from the commissioner to the way announcements are sent out. He hopes that all his kids participate in PNL to learn discipline and accountability.
“It’s as close to the NFL as you can get,” he said.
Richie Lenhart coaches the Cowboys 12-U division in PNL. He joined PNL in 2020 at the insistence of his son, Lucca, who was five years old at that time. He’s been coaching the Cowboys ever since and Lucca automatically gets drafted into his team.
In six years, the PNL community has become a tight-knit family for Lenhart. While he cherishes the close bonds with students and other coaches, he also loves the competition.
“You really got to pay attention if you want to capitalize on when it comes time for the draft,” he said. “If you’re not paying attention and you’re not really watching to see, you know, who’s the next quarterback? … I really want a strong quarterback, or I want a tall wide receiver with good hands.”
A safer alternative
Colvin formed the Pittsburgh National League because he wanted his then-three-year-old son to participate in sports and share his own love for football.
“Sports in general is inherently integrated in Pittsburgh culture and football is so huge here, like, you cannot get away from it,” he said. “If you are born here, you are born with a Terrible Towel.”
He chose flag football to encourage young people to participate in a safer alternative to tackle football.
Two years ago, PNL launched its first all-girls division with just four teams. This year, the league has expanded to three all-girls divisions, with 17 teams competing.
Ann-Marie Bangura, 11, is participating in PNL for the first time alongside her school friend Juliana Seman, 12. She hopes their involvement encourages more girls to get into sports.
“You can be like one of those girls that you saw playing it and it’s like, really cool to know that you can be someone [that] someone can look up to for playing flag football,” Ann-Marie said.
Colvin and Cooper have personally funded the league to sustain the program. Colvin said the registration fees from the YMCA program weren’t enough to cover the costs of equipment.
After turning it into an NFL Flag program, Colvin and Cooper were able to restructure finances and cover extra costs by charging higher fees and receiving grants, sponsorships and donations. The NFL Flag also provides scholarships to some parents who cannot afford registration fees.
Drafted into friendships
It’s seven-year-old Karlito Gomez-Garra’s first PNL draft. His love for football runs so deep that he struggles to name a single favorite team, but if pressed, he would choose among the Detroit Lions, the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers or the Dallas Cowboys. His favorite player is Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks.
At the PNL draft, he stood on stage wearing a bright blue blazer and matching pants, waving to his mother, Merceda Gomez and grandmother Maxine Claybrook, who came to support him.
That passion for football spans generations. Claybrook, 84, has been a lifelong Steelers fan, drawn to the team’s resilience. She hopes to see her grandson grow into someone just as dedicated and successful as NFL players.
“Their seasons start rocky but they end up really powerful,” she said.
For many families and coaches, PNL has become more than just a flag football league. It’s a foundation for community and relationships.
Penn Hills resident Caroline Brucker said the league helped her four-year-old son Tanner come out of his shell.
“There were a lot of tears at first when he was three, but the one coach literally would just hold his hand, because when they’re that young, the coaches can stay on the field a little more and just help them,” she said.
That helped build Tanner’s confidence and he has made many friends since.
“I feel like nowadays, kids don’t really play in the neighborhood as much,” she said. “It just doesn’t happen as much that you’re just running around with the neighborhood kids. So we didn’t really know a lot of kids from Penn Hills, but now, he’s met so many.”
Collins said the league is especially valuable to kids who are struggling to make friends at school. Participating in PNL gives them a chance to meet peers from other school districts and build new friendships.
“You’re working for each other, you’re working all towards it, which is really what life is,” said Cooper. “It doesn’t really matter what anybody looks like, either, you know, race, religion, sexual orientation, all that stuff.”
Fifth-grader Jett Mihalick has participated in six seasons of PNL and has especially enjoyed events like the All-Star Weekend games and the draft, which make him feel like he’s in the real NFL. He has made a tight group of friends and never wants to miss practice.
His parents, Emelee and Nik, said the league has not only helped Jett meet new friends but it’s taught him how to navigate the real world. The draft, in particular, makes him feel validated and get excited for the season.
“He’s not always going to win, and you’re always going to come across adversity, and Jett has learned how to kind of face that and stick to his game and, you know, try and support his team, even if it’s not his best day,” Emelee said.
Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at lajja@publicsource.org.
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