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It's clear that whether on the field, in the gym, on the sand, on the ice, in the bowling alley or in the water, women in college sports won't be sidelined. And the latest proof of that comes from two directions.
The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics has made a recommendation that Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add flag football to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
With the committee's vote, the recommendation will move through the NCAA governance structures. All three divisions will now have an opportunity to sponsor legislation to move the sport forward. The divisions will review updated statistics, current sports sponsorship numbers, financial considerations, potential timelines and other relevant topics before making a final decision on whether to add flag football to the Emerging Sports program.
Once in the program, a sport must have a minimum of 40 schools sponsoring the sport at the varsity level and meet minimum contest and participation requirements (as reflected in the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Database) to be considered for championship status. In January, the three divisions moved women's wrestling from the program to the NCAA's 91st championship, with the first championship slated for winter 2026.
"The growth of flag football will be exciting to watch in the NCAA as women's sports continue to generate more visibility and opportunities for female student-athletes to excel academically and athletically," said Ragean Hill, chair of the Committee on Women's Athletics and executive associate athletics director at Charlotte. "The Committee on Women's Athletics wants to thank RCX Sports Foundation and USA Football for submitting the application. CWA looks forward to flag football being added to the Emerging Sports for Women program and watching the sport's exciting journey to NCAA championship status in the future."
The feeder system is alive and well in flag; the sport has gained tremendous yardage at the youth level, with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) reporting that the number of participants in girls’ flag football more than doubled from 2022-23 to 2023-24. A total of 42,955 girls participated in flag football in 2023-24 compared to 20,875 the previous year – a 105 percent increase.
Looking back to the 15,716 participants recorded in 2021-22, there has been an increase of 173 percent. (There also was an increase in the number of girls competing on 11-player football teams from 3,654 to 4,094.) And according to data from the IFAF, 2.4 million children under age 17 are playing organized flag football in the U.S., while millions more participate in flag globally.
Additionally, the NFHS is expected to release its first rules book on flag football on June 16; here is what we know so far.
Additionally, Unrivaled Sports will be hosting its inaugural Unrivaled Flag High School Girls’ Nationals this Saturday and Sunday (June 14–15, 2025) at ForeverLawn Park by Unrivaled Sports, adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Flag football has been one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. At least 65 NCAA schools are sponsoring women's flag football at either 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.
Most recently, two sports in the Emerging Sports program, Acrobatics & Tumbling, and STUNT, have made strides toward championship status; if all goes well, the first championships in these sports will be held in spring of 2027.
That leaves three sports in the Emerging Sports for Women program: equestrian (Divisions I and II), rugby and triathlon.
The program is intended to help schools provide more athletics opportunities for women and more sport-sponsorship options for schools.
Since the program was established in 1994, based on a recommendation from the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force, five women's sports in addition to women's wrestling have earned NCAA championship status: rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015).
In the 2023-24 academic year, those five sports collectively included nearly 14,000 student-athletes, about 6% of the total student-athletes competing in NCAA women's championship sports, according to the most recent data.
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