The Rise of Girl’s Flag Football

Where it Began

Women’s flag football has been around since the 1970s, but it has never really gained much traction until now. The amount of recognition flag football has received has grown exponentially within the last few years.

Growth in Schools

Florida was the first state to recognize girls flag football as a high school sport about 20 years ago. Since then, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New York, Arkansas, Alabama, and California have all followed suit.

The sport saw its biggest surge starting in 2020 when the NAIA came together with the NFL to officially recognize flag football as a collegiate sport. By 2023, almost half a million girls between the ages of 6-17 played a season of flag football across the country. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics declared women’s flag football as an emerging sport in 2020 and expects it to be an invitational sport for the 2025-26 season. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics to add women’s flag football to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women Program across all divisions.

Global Recognition

Women’s flag football was played for the first time at The World Games in 2022 where 16 teams across the world, including Team USA, were able to compete and raise awareness on a global stage. After the successful debut, flag football returned to the World Games in 2025 with over 100 countries having a flag football team. Flag football will also be included for the first time in the 2028 Olympics hosted in Los Angeles. With these additions, flag football athletes will have more opportunities to perform at the highest levels as the sport continues to grow rapidly across the globe.

NIL Deals

As popularity continues to grow for women’s flag football, standout athletes in the sport are earning NIL deals with major brands. Among the stars in flag football, Janasia Wilson, Diana Flores, and Ashlea Klam are forerunners in receiving deals for flag football.

Janasia Wilson, a talented athlete from Irvington High School, signed the first Nike deal for girl’s flag football. Dazed Studio ran a campaign for the reintroduction of one of Nike’s sneakers called the “Field General” where Nike athletes were selected based on being a leader in their prospective sport. Wilson was chosen along with Colin Kaepernick and Kayvon Thibodeaux to showcase the sneaker. Wilson also appeared on a Nike advertisement with NFL star Josh Allen, amongst other athletes, to showcase the sport. Wilson continues to raise awareness for flag football through Nike and represent her hometown Irvington.

Diana Flores is the team captain and quarterback for the Mexican national team. Flores won two national college championships and then went on to win the world flag football championship in the 2022 World Games. Flores continued to make headlines when she accepted the first flag football Global Ambassador position for Under Armour. In this role, Flores will be able to showcase her own skills and bring the sport to other countries which is a huge step for flag football.

Ashlea Klam, is a talented wide receiver for the U.S. National Team and Keiser University. Klam helped the U.S. National Team win the IFAF Women’s Flag Football World Championship in 2024. Klam has signed a few deals including the data-based analytics platform called scoutSMART and the head gear brand SYZMIK. The scoutSMART platform takes player data and analyzes the level of play a coach can expect from an athlete. With this deal, women’s flag football is now part of their database. In addition, Klam can be seen wearing her SYZMIK headband to prevent or lessen the impact of head injuries while playing. Lastly, Klam was named a Global Ambassador for the Houston Texans where she further promotes the sport. 

The Future is Female

Women’s flag football continues to expand throughout the country and globally. With major advocates such as the NFL and major brands like Nike and Under Armour, women have the stage to gain the recognition they deserve. As this expansion continues, more women will be able to have the opportunity to compete at the high school level, collegiate level, and even professionally. Funding will be more available as schools continue to add flag football programs and popularity continues to soar. Women’s flag football is certainly here to stay.