By Calliope Wall and Vaughn Thompson, Staff Writers

Girls’ flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, although only 24 states have so far sanctioned it as an official high school sport. Other states offer it at schools, but less than half host inaugural state series and championships. The sport reached 102,360 participants in the 2025-2026 school year, as compared to the 2021-2022 school year with only 15,716 girls, and is expected to continue thriving. With a 48.7 percent increase over the previous year, flag football is now ranked among the top 10 girls/ sports nationally.

Wondering why this sport is growing in popularity so quickly? There are several factors.

The largest bonus to flag football is it generally involves fewer high-impact collisions than tackle football, resulting in a lower risk of serious contact injuries including concussions. Many parents who care about the safety of their kids opt for flag rather than tackle football.

Flag football also prevents injuries by naturally developing many of the movement skills that help reduce injury risk, including balance, coordination, acceleration and deceleration, lateral movement, body control and spatial awareness.

Flag football is a great team sport for teaching leadership, sportsmanship and self-confidence. Every one of these non-physical skills transfers over to other sports and completely different aspects of life.

How does it work?

A flag football team is made up of anywhere from 14 to over 30 players, split roughly so that one half of the team is on offense and the other is on defense. In a game, one team sends out seven of their offensive players (occupying the positions of Quarterback, Center, Wide Receivers and Running Back(s)) and the opposing team will send out their defensive lineup (made up of Rusher, Linebackers, Cornerbacks and Safeties).

The game is, like tackle football, split into four quarters which make up an hour-long game. The team on offense is given four downs (attempts) to move the ball twenty yards towards the opposing team’s endzone. If they are unable to do so, there is a turnover where they would then send in their defense and the opposing team would then be on offense.

Instead of tackling someone when they receive the ball, the defense has to pull one or both of the flags attached to the belt on the waists of the other team’s players. This makes the game a lot cleaner, although there are occasions where unintentional tackles occur when going for a flag.

What is flag football like at Payton?

Illinois is one of the 24 states that sanctioned the sport, having done so in 2024. Here at Walter Payton, the girls’ flag football team is a vibrant community of freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors, many of whom have never played before. Many team members play multiple sports as well, juggling soccer, golf, lacrosse, softball, track and cross country in addition to flag.

Payton’s flag football team was ranked #129 in Illinois after the fall 2024-2025 season (which happened to be only the third season ever in Payton history) and is expected to continue climbing. The team made it to the regional semifinals before losing 20-43 against Crane Medical.

The team started practicing in mid-August and the season will continue until late September, with practices four days a week and just less than 10 games. There are a lot of freshmen who have joined and, being new to high school, are excited for the built-in community that a team sport offers.

Flag football at other schools

Payton is not the only high school noticing this growing trend, with 200 girls’ flag football teams competing in Illinois, and over 100 in the Chicago area. Schools such as Lane Tech, Kenwood Academy, Taft and Phillips High School stand out among the hundreds, frequently competing at state and city levels.

Set to make its Olympic debut in 2028, flag football is popular among many girls across the country who are  taking their game to the college level. In 2020, women’s flag football became a sanctioned college sport, with 15 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) universities kicking off their leagues in 2021. The best part? They offer scholarships. 

What does it all mean?

It is hard to tell for certain what the rise in popularity for girls’ flag football means, but it could possibly be the beginning of a larger shift towards women’s sports. Notoriously, women’s sports are not as lucrative or successful as men’s, but if awareness is raised it is likely that the balance will continue to shift – not necessarily to favor women’s sports, but simply to put them on a closer level to that of men’s.

Girls who are looking for community in high school or otherwise should consider joining a sports team because not only is it a great way to meet new people, it also offers the future opportunity for a scholarship or college recognition.

Flag football is not always taken seriously, but it should be. It is an alternative to tackle for those who are looking for a less injury-heavy sport but still want to be a part of something challenging and fun. Not only is it enjoyable to play, it is also an entertaining sport to watch for anyone looking to see something new.