High schools across the country will have official flag football rules beginning this fall.

The National Federation of State High School Associations announced on Thursday that a committee had established the first set of national rules for the sport. The official rules will be available in print and digital form by early May.

There were 11 people on the NFHS Flag Football Rules Committee, which was chaired by Tyler Cerimeli, the Director of Athletics & Officials for the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

“The committee reviewed various other rules codes in place for flag football, including rules currently used in several state associations,” said Bob Colgate, the NFHS Director of Sports & Sports Medicine. “After much discussion, while the committee decided to use some parts of other rules codes to develop the first NFHS Flag Football Rules Book, the group wanted to develop rules that best fit our game at the high school level.”

The committee used the current NFHS Football Rules Book as a starting point. They removed parts of the rules book that were not applicable to flag football, and added rules that were needed.

There were some key decisions that needed to be made, including how many players were on the field at one time and the size of the field used. The committee settled on using the 7-on-7 player game, but there will be options for size of the field of play. One option will be a regulation 11-man high school football field.

“The committee feels strongly that 7-on-7 is the most appropriate starting point for high school flag football, while acknowledging the potential for 5-on-5 modifications to be considered in the future,” Cerimeli said. “Flag football is seeing tremendous and rapid growth across the country. The committee has created a rules book that we believe will foster that growth and is reflective of the specific needs of high school flag football.”

The NFHS rules for flag football can be applied to both boys and girls flag football, however the growth of the game is primarily for girls, including in North Carolina.

According to the Carolina Panthers, which has funded start-up flag football programs at high schools across the state, at least 119 schools are expected to field flag football teams in North Carolina during the 2024-2025 school year.

Many North Carolina high schools participated in a late fall season, which culminated in an unofficial state playoff. Ashley High School in Wilmington won the championship in that tournament, which was held at Durham County Memorial Stadium in December.

Durham, Johnston, and Wake counties petitioned the N.C. High School Athletic Association Board of Directors in December, requesting official sanctioning of girls flag football. However, the board declined to sanction the sport citing inconsistent data and lack of official rules. The NFHS announcement on Thursday means official high school rules now exist.

Nationally, the number of participants in girls flag football more than doubled from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024. A total of 42,955 girls participated in the sport during the 2023-2024 school year.

“The NFHS is excited about this new sports opportunity – particularly for girls,” said Dr. Karissa Niehoff, CEO of the NFHS. “Flag is a sport of inclusivity. It can be played in any season (weather dependent), is fast-paced and offers an opportunity for young people to play and others to coach or officiate in the exciting sport of football.

Some colleges are beginning to offer flag football as a sanctioned sport as well, including some in North Carolina. In November, Mooressville High School’s Lilly Rumrill became the first North Carolina high school player to commit to a collegiate flag football program — Milligan University.

Flag football will also be an Olympic sport for both men and women at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.