The Atlanta Falcons are giving grants to 20 Alabama high schools to launch flag football programs, the NFL team announced today.

In a news release, the Falcons said the grants are from the team owner’s Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. “This announcement underscores the Falcons’ unwavering commitment to empowering young women through the launch of girls’ flag football programs.”

The Falcons spearheaded efforts to launch a pilot program to bring girls’ flag football to Alabama in 2021 in collaboration with RCX Sports and the Alabama High School Athletic Association. The club had done the same in Georgia in 2019 as the Peach State became the fourth state to recognize girls’ flag football as an official high school sport.

RCX Sports is a Roswell, Ga., based group of 20 former professional and college athletes and coaches with a “mission to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of sports for all athletes.”

The AHSAA has officially recognized girls’ flag football as a sanctioned sport with 112 high schools participating.

The Falcons also announced that 42 schools in Georgia and 12 in Montana have received grants for flag football.

The release did not specify the amount of the grants.

Here are the schools and their county or district system in Alabama that are receiving the foundation grants:

Austin High School, Decatur City Schools; Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School, Montgomery; Carver High School, Montgomery; Clark-Shaw Magnet High School, Mobile; Decatur High School, Decatur City Schools; Elberta High School, Baldwin; Ellwood Christian Academy, Dallas; Enterprise High School, Enterprise City Schools; Foley High School, Baldwin; Hazel Green High School, Madison; Marbury High School, Autauga; Monroe County High School, Monroe; Montevallo High School, Shelby; Mountain Brook High School, Mountain Brook City Schools; Pell City High School, St. Clair/Pell City School District; Percy Julian High School, Montgomery; Robertsdale High School, Baldwin; Spanish Fort High School, Baldwin; Tallassee High School, Elmore/Tallassee City Schools; Wilcox Central High School, Wilcox.