Mara González and Pepe Martínez will compete in the U15 European flag football championships in Italy from 24 to 26 September, while David Moreno will participate in the U17 men's category. All three are youth players from Osos de Rivas.
The players from Rivas, Mara González Lanza and Pepe Martínez Pérez, both 14 years old and trained at the Osos de Rivas academy, have been called up by the Spanish national team to compete in the U15 flag football European championships, which will take place in Italy from 24 to 26 September. At the same event, fellow Rivas player David Moreno Delgado, aged 17, will compete with the national team in the U17 men's category, marking his first call-up.
Flag football is a non-contact version of American football: instead of tackling the opponent, the defence must remove the flag that the player with the ball wears on the sides of their waist. This discipline will be an Olympic sport in Los Angeles 2028, which is accelerating its expansion in several countries. In Rivas-Vaciamadrid, it has been practiced for some time through Osos de Rivas.
Twelve teams will participate in the U15 European championships. In the group stage, Spain will face Finland, Austria, Israel, Russia, and Slovakia. In 2025, the Spanish team won bronze in this category and gold in the U17 category. The U15 teams are mixed, with eight girls and eight boys, and each tournament sets its own rules regarding the minimum number of girls on the field, which is usually two or three.
At Osos, I have played in various positions, mainly as a receiver and quarterback
Mara González started at Osos de Rivas in 2021 and this season has signed with Sureste Hoppers in Vallecas. She was already called up by the national team in 2025, where she played as a receiver.
Pepe Martínez began at the Osos de Rivas school in 2021 and last season played with the Royal Oaks Knights from Alcobendas, champions of Spain and Madrid in 2026. In the national final, he was named the most valuable player in the blitzer position. This 2026-2027 season, he returns to Osos de Rivas.
In his first year as an U15, Pepe makes his debut with the Spanish national team. He combines flag football with contact American football and is versatile: he plays blitzer, center, wide receiver, and safety positions, both in defence and attack. With the Royal Oaks Knights, he competed this summer in Indianapolis in the international championship of the non-contact version of the NFL. Additionally, he trains at the High Performance Centre in Madrid in wrestling, has been a national champion in the U13 category, is part of the U15 national team, and was crowned national jiu-jitsu champion at the age of six. He is the brother of Lola Martínez, a double national champion in cadet Olympic wrestling and absolute breakdancing.
David Moreno, born in 2018, will play in the European championships with the U17 men's national team as a center. He plays for Sureste Hoppers in flag football and for Osos de Rivas in contact American football at the junior level. Spain defends the continental title won in 2025 in Innsbruck. In the first phase, the Spanish team is placed in Group A alongside Great Britain and Germany. Group B consists of Israel, France, and Serbia; Group C includes the Czech Republic, Italy, and Team Euro Youth; and Group D features Finland, Austria, and Poland.
The U15 European championships will take place in Italy from 24 to 26 September, while the U17 men's event will be held on dates and at a venue to be confirmed by the organisers.
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