Flag football has exploded as a girls high school sport in the United States and in North Carolina.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools was the first district in North Carolina to adopt flag football. Union County and Cabarrus County followed. Earlier this year, Wake County, New Hanover County, Durham County, and some individual schools like Cardinal Gibbons, Vance County, and Louisburg also launched pilot programs.

The various districts played flag football in condensed seasons and at different times of the year.

Wake County’s season was four weeks in January and February with multi-team events across three Saturdays, which ended with a SupHer Bowl. Cardinal Gibbons played alongside the Wake County schools.

New Hanover County’s season was similar to Wake County’s, but took place later in the spring and only included the four high schools in the district.

Durham County hosted a one-day jamboree-style event in early June. That event included all six high schools in Durham Public Schools, as well as Vance County and Louisburg.

Union County and Cabarrus County played in the fall, with A.L. Brown and Mooresville joining Cabarrus County. However, Charlotte-Mecklenburg played later in the spring.

Much of that will change with the 2024-2025 school year though. A number of school districts will play flag football at the same time this fall, allowing them to align plans for a more uniform season and ending with a playoff.

Deran Coe, District Director of Athletics for Wake County Schools, says his district will participate in a new flag football season, which he considers a “shoulder season,” meaning it will encompass parts of two seasons — the end of the fall and the first part of winter.

The new flag football season in Wake County, which will not be sanctioned by the N.C. High School Athletic Association for the upcoming school year, will begin in late September with tryouts. The regular season will end sometime in early November and lead into an unofficial state playoff tournament, which will culminate in a championship game in early December — likely the week before the NCHSAA football state championship games.

“We think that time will work because some of the other female sports will be coming to an end. Volleyball won’t be over, tennis and golf won’t be over, but they’ll be winding down, and hopefully schools that are still playing those sports will be able to allow athletes to try out,” Coe said.

The Wake County Board of Education approved a coaches supplement for flag football in its budget for the 2024-2025 school year. Coe expects all 25 of Wake County’s high schools to participate in the sport this fall. 19 of the 25 schools participated in the pilot season earlier this year.

“These young ladies got after it. This is legit. I think others saw that, saw coverage of it in the media … that helped others understand that it is a legitimate sport and a great opportunity for female student-athletes to play in a high-energy, fast-paced sport,” Coe said. “It’s exciting to see New Hanover participate, and some of the schools down there had great participation, and with Durham County folding in some of the other schools and counties, it’s great to see more opportunities for females in athletics.”

Several other school districts will follow a similar schedule as Wake County with plans to compete in the same playoff at the end of the season.

Under the plan, conferences will build their own schedules, like sanctioned sports do each season. At least in Wake County, most games will be played on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, possibly with four teams at a single location. There will be some Saturday tournaments though, and some conferences may elect to hold conference tournaments.

Many of the Wake County flag football teams this past spring were coached by football coaches at the school. Moving games to earlier in the week could help keep those football coaches engaged in the sport, and it will also open the door for high school football officials to officiate the flag football games, Coe said.

Aligning of seasons

One of the challenges that must be addressed before the NCHSAA can sanction the sport is the season calendar. There has not been a uniform season for flag football in North Carolina, and various states across the country play the sport at different times of the year.

North Carolina may be arriving at a solution though. Several other school districts tell HighSchoolOT they plan to join Wake County with a fall season and will participate in the playoffs at the end of the season.

All six of Durham’s high schools are expected to participate, according to David Hackney, the Director of Athletics for Durham Public Schools. That will include Durham School of the Arts, Hillside, Jordan, Northern Durham, Riverside, and Southern Durham.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to compete and expand the game,” Hackney said. “Our spring jamboree was a huge success. The ladies competed and played at a very high level … I am eager to see the growth of our returning players going into the next season.”

After playing a season among themselves this spring, New Hanover County’s four high schools will also join the fall season. Ashley, Hoggard, Laney, and New Hanover will field teams this fall and will be eligible to compete in the playoffs, according to New Hanover County Schools Athletic Director Kelly Lewis.

“The spring season went great for us. It was positive all the way around. Some of the girls that played flag had not participated in other sports during the year, so that was great to see as well,” Lewis said.

With only four high schools, New Hanover County Schools will likely keep its flag football games on Saturdays, Lewis added.

Other districts that have not participated in flag football yet plan to launch the sport with the 2024 fall season.

Johnston County Schools will be participating in flag football for the first time this fall. The district’s director of athletics, Josh Plisko, says six of the eight high schools in Johnston County will field teams: Clayton, Cleveland, Corinth Holders, Smithfield-Selma, South Johnston, and West Johnston. The schools are actively looking for coaches after interest meetings with strong numbers were held this spring, Plisko said.

“We are happy to be included in the conversation and excited for the opportunities for our student-athletes,” he said.

All 15 of Guilford County’s high schools will be adding flag football this fall, according to Leigh Hebbard, the Guilford County Schools Senior Director of Athletics. It’s even possible some Guilford County schools may field two teams.

“We do plan to run the pilot season in the fall, kind of wedged between fall and winter sports. We still have some logistics to work out, but it will run on a schedule close to what Deran (Coe) has worked out, and we are planning with the intent that our schools will participate in the playoffs,” Hebbard said.

Hebbard added that three Forsyth County high schools will also join Guilford County Schools in adding flag football — Carver, Mount Tabor, and West Forsyth.

Union County expects all 10 of its high schools to field flag football teams this school year after most played a season last fall. Union County Public Schools Director of Athletics Nelson Garner says those schools will also participate in any state playoff opportunities that exist.

“We are hopeful to have a 10-team county conference, but that is contingent on the interest being there at each of those schools,” he said. “We should have a better idea a few weeks into the new school year.”

All of Cabarrus County’s high schools teamed up with Mooresville and A.L. Brown to hold a flag season last fall as well.

Cabarrus County Schools Director of Athletics Bryan Tyson says his schools, along with Mooresville and A.L. Brown, will play on Saturdays during the month of October.

“As far as possible playoffs go, our current plans are the leave that up to the schools if they want to participate,” said Tyson, noting that schools will have to consider things like how the season is going and how many athletes have conflicts with other sports.

“Girls flag football was a huge success for us last year,” Tyson said.

Not everyone is ready to move to the fall

While several school districts and most schools participating in flag football will be aligning with a fall season, not everyone is ready for that, including the first school district in North Carolina to adopt the sport.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will continue to play flag football in the spring during the 2024-2025 school year, according to Ericia Turner, the Executive Director of Athletics for the school district.

“At the moment, the spring works best for us. However, once it becomes a sanctioned sport, we will align ourselves with the state,” said Turner.

There is a new school opening in Mecklenburg County this year too — Ballantyne Ridge. Turner says once students return to the school, they will hold an interest meeting for girls at Ballantyne Ridge. If there is enough interest, the district will ensure the school is able to field a team too.

Louisburg, which is in Franklin County, and Vance County participated in the jamboree with the Durham County schools in June, and both schools prefer to play flag football in the spring again next season.

Vance County athletic director Philip Weil said the fall season would be challenging for his school given field availability, but they hope to continue offering flag football for girls at their school in the spring.

“Lots of energy, lots of new girls trying a sport for the first time. Every one of our young ladies competed hard. It was a blast the whole way through,” Weil said. “If we can find a spring season for flag, that would work best for us.”

Louisburg athletic director Erica Wammock said she prefers to play flag football in the spring because they have fewer students than the larger 3A and 4A schools, and most of Louisburg’s flag football players were multi-sport athletes.

“I thought this past spring went extremely well for us. We absolutely loved it,” Wammock said. “As I expected, the girls took to it quickly and really enjoyed it. The only complaint was that it was such a short season and we only played one day, but we are appreciative of Durham County allowing us to play in their jamboree. It allowed us to at least start the program and get the girls playing and interested in the sport.”

Wammock said the other two schools in Franklin County — Bunn and Franklinton — are discussing adding flag football as well. If they do, the three schools in Franklin County could potentially create a spring league with Vance County. If Louisburg is still the only school with flag football, Wammock says they will figure out another plan.

“If they aren’t doing it, I will have to make a decision on whether to join Wake County and Durham County. Either way, Louisburg will be playing flag football again this upcoming school year,” she said.

Could flag football be sanctioned soon?

More schools are expected to test the waters with flag football this school year. Pitt County Schools, Beaufort County Schools, and Craven County Schools will team up for a 12-team league this year with two six-team conferences.

The three school districts will begin the season on Nov. 4 with tryouts, and the season will run through Dec. 14. As more school districts add the sport, it becomes closer and closer to sanctioned status.

The Carolina Panthers have been the driving force behind the fast growth of flag football across North Carolina, and organizers have not been shy that their goal is to see the sport sanctioned by the NCHSAA.

“Really that’s our ultimate goal — that in the not too distant future, girls in our state are going to have the opportunity to compete for state championships, representing their school in the sport of girls flag football,” Riley Fields, the Director of Community Relations for the Carolina Panthers, told HighSchoolOT in January.

It is possible that the threshold required for sanctioning consideration could be met this fall.

NCHSAA bylaws require 25% of the full membership or 50% of an individual classification compete in a sport before the board of directors can consider sanctioning it.

There will be 443 NCHSAA member schools during the 2024-2025 school year, meaning 111 schools across all classifications, or approximately 60 schools of a single classification, must offer the sport for the board to consider a proposal to sanction flag football.

Based on available information, HighSchoolOT estimates there are 116 high schools already participating in flag football or that have confirmed plans to launch a program during the 2024-2025 school year, which surpasses the 25% threshold for sanctioning. Additionally, 73 of those high schools are 4A high schools, which meets the 50% threshold for a single classification.

“This has grown much faster (than other new sports), and I think part of it is there’s not a need for extensive equipment, it’s pretty easy to get into the sport. I think there’s already an understanding of football rules because the rules are not dramatically different, and you also don’t need a huge number of student-athletes to make it happen,” Coe said. “I’ve definitely not seen anything grow as rapidly as this. I think the timing was right, I think it’s an exciting sport, and I think the Carolina Panthers’ support behind it certainly helped.”

If the projected participation numbers become reality this fall, schools could have the option to submit a proposal to the NCHSAA Board of Directors as soon as this winter to seek official sanctioning for flag football.

After the 2024-2025 school year, the NCHSAA will expand from four to eight classifications. That could make it even easier to get new sports sanctioned if the bylaws are not changed.

North Carolina is not the only state that has seen flag football grow. Several other states have already sanctioned the sport and the National Federation of State High School Associations has been asked to consider writing official rules.

Florida has the longest-running sanctioned flag football program with more than 360 schools and 10,000 players participating. Last year, Georgia held its third flag football state championship and has almost 5,000 participants. The growth of the sport in Georgia has been aided by involvement from the Atlanta Falcons, similar to the efforts from the Carolina Panthers in North Carolina.

At least nine states have already sanctioned the sport, with more than 20 others running pilot programs.

Source: highschoolot.com