Collegiate flag football for women is here, and the inaugural season is happening this spring. But there’s still a lot of work to make the sport a sustainable feature of college athletic programs.
Intercollegiate competition is the outcome of a collaboration among the NFL, a sports organization called Reigning Champs Experience (RCX), and a collegiate sports association, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
Organized as a two-year initiative, the NFL is providing participating schools with a $15,000 start-up stipend, which is about half of the cost to operate the program (excluding scholarship costs). Reigning Champs Experience, a youth experience business that runs leagues, camps, and tournaments across the country, supports over 2 million athletes in 34 sports, has donated over $20 million in services. The NAIA is the governing body of athletic programs located at 250 small colleges across the country. More than 75,000 athletics participate annually in NAIA-governed intercollegiate sports programs.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson chairs NFL Flag, which is the league’s platform for promoting flag football across the U.S. Over 500,00 youth are involved in 1500 NFL Flag-affiliated programs. Wilson is especially excited about women participating in the sport. In an interview with CNN, he asserted that ”football is going to be a worldwide sport, and it should be a great sport for women…and for them to be leaders in the sport.”
Wilson’s enthusiasm is matched by RCX GM Izelle Reese, a former NFL player. “By teaming up with the NAIA, we’re able to create more opportunities for women to continue the sport they love,” Reese said. “Women’s flag football can reach high levels of competition since they are committed, talented and passionate for the sport.”
Stats back up Wilson’s and Reese’s enthusiasm. In Florida, for example, over 7,000 girls are playing varsity flag football at 200+ high schools. According to Laura Courtney-Todd, AD at St Thomas University (FL), that participation level is one reason why colleges are interested in offering football for women students. Title IX compliance (providing equal athletic opportunities for women) is another. Courtney-Todd believes there is great potential for the sport, and she is pleased that her school is fielding a women’s team.
At Midland University (NE), Coach Jaison Jones is recruiting women student-athletes from around the country. And even though players pay more in tuition than they receive in scholarships, many are motivated by the opportunity to play the sport they love. Florida-based Allison Maulfair, who visited Midland with high school teammate Spencer Mauk, is an example. ”I’m just really passionate about the sport,” Maulfair exclaimed.
Courtesy HBCU Gameday
Other colleges that will be participating in the competition this spring include Milligan University (TN), Ottawa University (KS), Xavier University (LA), Cottey College (MO), Florida Memorial, and Reinhardt University (GA). (Find map of participating schools (N=15) here.)
Those (and other) colleges and their players will engage in what the NAIA classifies as an ’emerging sport.’ To advance beyond that status, at least 40 schools need to participate in the sport. The longer-term vision is to host a tournament and, perhaps, crown a national championship, as NAIA does currently in various other sports.
Fans who watch games this spring will experience several adjustments from the game they are used to watching. For starters, the playing field is smaller–80 yards long and 40 yards wide. Games are played over four, 12-minute quarters, and 20 yards is required to make a first down. All players are considered eligible receivers, and players are “tackled” when a defender pulls one of three flags attached to the ball carrier’s belt.
All of this is exciting to me, personally, because I remember playing flag football in high school. Back then, it was called “Powder Puff”–a reference that wouldn’t fly today. It was an ad hoc extracurricular event, too, played at Homecoming before the boy’s football team took the field. The women who played found football to be a fun and competitive experience, but it wasn’t something any of us considered as a long-term sport.
Things have changed, of course, but that doesn’t automatically mean women’s college flag football is here to stay. Like all endeavors, sustainability is contingent on what happens over the next two years in what (in reality) is a pilot program. Long-term viability requires more schools starting programs, which in practical terms means schools investing money in women’s flag football as an intercollegiate sport. Another hurdle is avoiding negative impacts on other sports, including track, tennis, and softball.
To help move things forward, the NAIA has published a start-up guide for colleges to use as they are thinking about launching a women’s flag football program.
One of the big issues is scholarship assistance–whether it will be available and, if so, how much student-athletes can count on. There are also travel expenses for schools, among other program expenses (e.g., coaching salaries).
So it’s not difficult to see why some observers (including me) are skeptical about whether women’s college flag football will become a“go-to” sport in the future. As Midland’s Jones said recently, “There’s still work to be done, a lot of work getting girls to come in. It’s a continuous grind to get the program where I want it to be and to have a winning program.”
And let’s face it: money and winning are the bottom lines in any college athletic program.
Will women’s flag football get a passing college grade? We’ll see.
