The N.C. High School Athletic Association distributed a survey to all member schools this week asking for information about girls flag football.

In December, the NCHSAA Board of Directors directed the NCHSAA staff to conduct a survey of the membership about the sport after it decided not to approve a proposal from Durham, Johnston, and Wake counties to sanction it.

The survey was sent by email to each school. It asks whether or not the school participated in girls flag football during the 2024-2025 school year. It also asks how many athletes participated and if the school participated in previous school years.

During the board meeting in December, the board cited inconsistent data as one reason it did not want to sanction flag football. The NCHSAA said it could only account for 52 schools participating in flag football. However, the Carolina Panthers, which have funded the start up of numerous flag football programs at North Carolina high schools, says 119 schools are participating during the 2024-2025 school year.

HighSchoolOT was able to verify the Carolina Panthers’ data in December. It is possible additional schools have decided to add the sport or have been unable to field a team since that data was collected though.

“Nobody in this room is opposed to flag football,” NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker said in December. “{The Carolina Panthers) want to see this evolve into a state championship, we have no doubt that it will. But the data that we asked our membership to give us just a few weeks ago gave different results than what we received from other sources.”

The goal of the survey distributed this week is to hopefully compile more reliable data, which could be presented to the board as early as this spring.

The NCHSAA survey also asked schools which season they played flag football. Many schools played flag football during the late fall, which allowed districts to organize an unofficial state championship tournament in December. Ashley High School in Wilmington won the championship game. Some districts will play flag football in the spring though, such as Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, the first district in North Carolina to adopt flag football.

One of the concerns the board raised in Decmeber was related to the season. Finding a time period that works for everyone and doesn’t take away from other sports could be challenging. However, other state associations have already sanctioned flag football and have been able to find a way to schedule the season. The season varies from state to state, with some playing in fall, winter, and spring.

Last month, the National Federation of State High School Associations adopted the first official rules for high school flag football. The NFHS is the national governing body for high school sports and is in charge of establishing uniform rules for sports. The rule books are expected to be released later this spring.

The lack of NFHS rules was another concern the NCHSAA Board of Directors raised.

It is not clear if the board will consider a proposal to sanction the sport at its spring meeting. The agenda for the spring meeting will be released in April.

Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports nationally. The number of girls playing the sport doubled from the 2022-2023 school year to 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.

Colleges are beginning to adopt the sport as well, including in North Carolina. This has opened the door for female athletes to earn scholarships. College coaches were in attendance recruiting athletes at the unofficial state championship in December.

Flag football will also be an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.