We've been told that flag football has been growing for years, but what does that mean? The International Federation of American Football says 2.4 million kids under the age of 17 play flag football, and 74 different countries have their own official flag football organizations. Okay, and then what? What is all this growth leading to? Why does it matter?
Flag football's growth starts to matter when the game is recognized by official gatekeepers within the industry, like one country agreeing to recognize the legitimacy of another. Like the Olympic Committee putting the sport in the 2028 LA Games.
Or, like what happened Tuesday, when the NCAA Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact voted to recommend the NCAA recognize women's flag football as a championship sport at the Division I, II and III levels. If approved, flag football would become an official NCAA sport in 2028.
"Today is a landmark day for collegiate athletics, as flag football officially becomes an NCAA championship sport," added Marion Terenzio, chair of the Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact Emerging Sport Subcommittee and president at SUNY Cobleskill. "This step recognizes a sport whose growth, competitiveness and national momentum have been impossible to ignore. Elevating flag football to championship status affirms that progress and opens new doors for women to compete at the highest level. Today we celebrate a milestone, and we look ahead to a future of championships, rivalries and remarkable student-athletes who will define this new era."
More than 100 colleges and universities plan to offer varsity flag football, well above the NCAA's requirement of 40 to sponsor a championship.
Each division is now expected to review the recommendation and, potentially, sponsor a proposal by July 1, which would then be voted upon at the 2027 NCAA Convention in January. Once established, each division would then establish its own Flag Football Committee, which would oversee the sport's construction before the first season would take place in the spring of 2028.
"Girls want to play. Whenever you give access and opportunity to an easier way to play, the better the success and numbers in participation you see," said Jacqie McWilliams Parker, chair of the Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association commissioner. "The young women who are currently playing at our institutions, some never even thought about being able to play in college. Now they have their opportunity. As we hit the next steps to becoming an NCAA championship, I'm excited we're providing access and opportunity."