NCAA committee recommends flag football as emerging sport for women amid growing popularity

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has recommended that Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add flag football to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.

The committee’s recommendation Wednesday gives all three divisions an opportunity to sponsor legislation that would move the fast-growing sport through NCAA governance structures.

A sport must have a minimum of 40 schools sponsoring the sport at the varsity level and meet minimum contest and participation requirements to be considered for championship status.

At least 65 NCAA schools are sponsoring women’s flag football at the club or varsity levels this year, with more slated to join in 2026. Flag football also has been added as a sport for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The NAIA launched women’s flag football in 2020. The NAIA is the governing body of sports at more than 200 mostly private schools and has sponsored championships in the sport since 2021.

There are 14 states that have sanctioned girls flag football as a high school varsity sport. It was the 12th most popular girls sport in 2023-24 with 42,955 participants, according to the National Federation of High Schools, and almost a half million girls ages 6 to 17 played flag football in 2023, according to NFL FLAG.

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