A US student signs a signature on a football during an interactive activity featuring flag football between the girls flag football team from Lincoln High School and Chinese students held at Shanghai Pinghe School on May 29, 2025. Photo: Chen Xia/GT

The girls flag football team from Lincoln High School in the US began a series of exchange activities in Shanghai on Thursday. They visited Shanghai Pinghe School, where they interacted with local students.

During their visit, the students exchanged views on favorite movies and school subjects. They also held an interactive activity featuring flag football, where they played sports together with the Chinese students on the playground.

Earlier in the week, the team attended a China-US Youth Flag Football Exchange Event at Beijing National Day School, according to Xinhua.

The team is in China for the one-week sports and cultural exchange activities between Chinese and American youth at the invitation of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Xinhua reported. 

The story about Lincoln High School is themed around youth exchanges and collaboration between China and the US. 

In September 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Lincoln High School during his first state visit to the US as Chinese president and invited young Americans to visit China, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

In 2016, 118 teachers and students from the school were invited to visit Hong Kong, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Beijing and other places in China, according to the report. 

“Since arriving at Lincoln High School in 2015 I have felt that Chinese culture has always been a part of our campus experience,” Shalls Jacome, head coach of the girls flag football team from Lincoln High School, told the Global Times.

“It’s these meaningful connections that make these cultural exchanges so important for both adults and our youth. As a coach I feel that sports are a global unifier. There aren’t too many things in this world that can bring people from different backgrounds together like sport can,” said Jacome.

“I was in awe at our visit to the Beijing National Day School at how Flag Football served as a catalyst for our two teams to form lasting bonds. It was almost like they had known each other for years. Sports did that. It truly shows the importance of sports being an integral part of future cultural exchanges,” he added.

The trip marks 18-year-old Destiny Bass’s first visit to China. She expressed excitement about interacting with local students. “It’s been very intriguing because everyone knows a lot of information. Their English is very good. They’re very kind and they have really good food,” Bass told the Global Times on Thursday. 

“So I’m really excited to know more about these kids and what they learned about. I’m just really excited that I want to meet a lot of friends,” Bass said.

Jacome said he looks forward to sharing the team’s experiences with students back home. Reflecting on the trip, he said, it “has really opened my eyes to what daily life in China is like. I have enjoyed taking morning walks during this trip in order to experience the surroundings and really ground myself in Chinese culture.”