The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has officially recommended that the sport of flag football join the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program. NCAA Divisions I, II and III will now decide whether to sponsor legislation to move the sport forward. If this happens, 40 colleges and universities must sponsor the sport at the varsity level in order for it to be considered for championship status. An example of this process is women’s wrestling, which was granted NCAA championship status last month.
A sport on the rise, the International Olympic Committee approved the addition of flag football for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It is already a varsity sport at NAIA institutions and at least 65 NCAA schools sponsor flag football as either a varsity or club sport. In flag football, instead of tackling the person with the ball, the defensive team removes a flag from the ball carrier.
“It means the world [to be a varsity sport],” said Melinda Nguyen, head flag football coach at Kansas Wesleyan University (KWU), a Division I NAIA school. “I started playing flag when I was eight. I never imagined that it would be available in high schools and at the collegiate level, and now the U.S. national team and potentially professional leagues. It really exploded over the past few years.”
The transition from club sport to varsity sport means increased access to the full resources of an athletic department. Nguyen is a full-time coach and her student-athletes are able to receive athletic scholarship money. This could become the case for NCAA institutions that elevate the sport to varsity status.
“A lot of girls have expressed interest in coaching or other careers in the flag football world,” said Nguyen. “It’s opened so many opportunities for women that they didn’t have before.”
Some flag football players have played other sports, like soccer or basketball, and some have discovered organized sport through flag football, Nguyen noted. An ever growing number of high schools offer it. “They’re finding their love, passion and enthusiasm for sports through flag football,” she said. “It’s a very approachable sport.”
KWU’s season began last weekend. The players are proud to be collegiate athletes. “They have to hold their heads a little bit higher because we are the pioneers,” Nguyen said. “We’re setting the standard for the sport.