With the Spring season finally beginning, many schools have already started their spring sports.
Girls Flag Football is a rising sport throughout the community. With the popularity of it growing, many people are beginning to participate and play.
Flag football has been around since World War II. The U.S military created it as a way for soldiers to stay active and fit without having to be scared of getting themselves injured. Fort Meade can be considered the birthplace of flag football. It was where the first games were played.
The sport started becoming popular recently towards 2020 when the NAIA had finally declared it as an emerging sport. Many schools started adding it as a sport with the ones they already offered. Nationwide, studies show that an increase in participation went up from 1 million to 1.6 million in 2023.
The NFL is one of the main supporters for flag football. Organized leagues and high school programs are expanding rapidly especially with its inclusion in the 2028 Olympics.
Currently as of late 2024 and early 2025 at least 65 NCAA schools are sponsoring women’s flag football at either a club level or a varsity level. Many more are expected to join in 2026. The NCAA recommended flag football as an emerging sport. A few colleges in New Jersey have made it a sport like Bergen County Community College, Kean University, and Princeton University (who has it as a club).
Many girls are becoming more confident through sports. Flag football being one of them. As spring is here and the season begins, you can watch a few games online or even find some in town. Just get a feel of the new rising sport that is here.