Franciscan Health Sports Medicine Manager Dave Weikel Heads To Finland For World Championships

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana - Dave Weikel had never really watched a flag football game until he was asked to attend the 2018 World Championships in Panama. Assigned as one of two athletic trainers for USA Football, working with USA Football's Men's Flag National Team and USA Football's Women's Flag National Team. Weikel, who is the manager of Sports Medicine at Franciscan Health in Central Indiana, quickly received a crash course on the fast-paced sport that is flag football.

The Ball State graduate has been around football his whole life, but that was tackle football. Flag football offered a new arena for him to expand his horizons. Through a partnership with a previous employer, Weikel was connected with USA Football in 2011 and has been with the group ever since, transitioning from the world of tackle football to flag football, which has exploded in popularity, across the world, over the last handful of years.

Weikel provides athletic training and sports medicine services to both USA Football's Men's Flag National Team and USA Football's Women's Flag National Team. He is gearing up to attend the 2024 World Championships in Finland at the end of the month. Weikel has attended each of the last two championships, Panama in 2018 and Israel in 2021.

"When you go to an event like the world championships, you get exposed to a lot of different teams and how they do things," said Weikel. "You get to interact with medical staffs from other countries and learn from them. Also, you teach them as well. It is a nice side benefit to just the games themselves. You build relationships with the coaches and players along with making connections with people around the world and are able to pick their brains on some things."

While physical contact is limited by rule in flag football, the game is still very athletic and thus injuries do occur, though less injuries than regular tackle football. This is one of the main appeals of flag football, especially among parents of youth, who want to play football. 

When providing services at flag football events, Weikel is tasked with a fair amount of rehab and injury evaluation work. During the recent training camp in Charlotte N.C., he focused on recovery and soft tissue work. The athletic trainers also do quite a bit of taping and bracing for training camp and games as well. These are many of the same services that the Franciscan Health Sports Medicine program offers to local high school athletic programs.

"The players are very athletic," Weikel said. "Just watching them, it takes a lot of agility and a lot of quickness. There is a lot of body control that is needed. There are a lot of similarities flag football has with regular tackle football, but there are a lot of differences as well, just because of the nature of the game. Some of the skills transfer, but not all of them. That goes both ways. Tackle football players do not always make good flag football players and vice versa."

Flag football will officially become an Olympic sport for the 2028 summer games, which will take place in Los Angeles. If all goes according to plan, Weikel will be at those games, assisting the U.S. men's and women's national teams.

"It definitely has ramped things up, knowing it will be an Olympic sport in 2028," said Weikel. "The ultimate goal has always been to get football into the Olympics. The reality of having tackle football is just not feasible, with the nature of the sport, the physicality and the amount of time needed for recovery. As flag football became more popular, especially with how it grew overseas, the focus shifted to push that to the Olympic level. Since the announcement came out last year that it would be in the 2028 Olympics, the popularity and interest have exploded."

USA Football's Men's Flag National Team and USA Football's Women's Flag National Team have recently been the teams to beat at the world championships. The men's squad has won each of the last four world titles, dating back to 2014, while the women's team has won each of the last two championships.

"It is a very cool experience at these events, especially when you go to the different countries," said Weikel. "Hopefully, we will hear the national anthem at the medal ceremony. It never gets old. It is truly amazing to be a part of it all."

A lifelong learner, Weikel always brings back best practices to the sports medicine program at Franciscan Health, when he returns from events, such as the flag football world championships. He also has a vision of where he would like to see the sports medicine program at Franciscan in terms of being part of national tournaments and events. Indianapolis hosts its fair share of large-scale sporting events and tournaments.

"What I do with USA Football is part of the big picture of where I want us to go with our sports medicine program at Franciscan," said Weikel. "I have been very fortunate to have been involved in a lot of the big events here in Indy and I want our staff at Franciscan to be able to have those same experiences. That is where I want us to get as a program to position ourselves to be involved with various national governing bodies and high-level events that come here to Indianapolis to be part of it. That helps elevate a program to another level when we can say we provide the medical support for XYZ tournament."

Franciscan Physician Network Sports Medicine Specialists has locations in Greenwood, Plainfield, Mooresville, Carmel and Indianapolis. For more information, call 317-781-1133.