Photo courtesy Green Bay Packers
The push for girls flag football continues to gain steam in Wisconsin, with a formal request from schools being made to the WIAA to begin the sanctioning process for the sport.
A committee of athletic directors, commissioners, and football coaches has introduced a letter that is being read at all seven WIAA Area Meetings to outline the rationale for the addition and request the WIAA begin the process. The plan is to make girls flag football a fall sport.
Current WIAA regulations require that at least 5% of member schools (roughly 26 of the 516 schools) offer a sport to begin sanctioning it, while 10% of member schools (roughly 52) would need to offer a sport to add a state tournament series.
According to information provided by the girls flag football committee, 58 high schools have already or will participate this fall. A survey of athletic directors indicated a 70% favorable response for beginning the official sanctioning of girls flag football.
According to data from the NFL, in 2024 there were more than 550,000 girls aged six to 17 playing flag football nationally. Of note, about 55% of the girls who play flag football in high school do not participate in another sport.
In participation with the NFL, the Green Bay Packers have made significant investments in girls flag opportunities, including awarding $100,000 in grants to 20 programs around the state this spring. The Packers also house a girls flag program database on their site, have provided opportunities to showcase the game at halftime of Packer games, and hosted camps and unofficial state championships. The Packers also hosted a town hall discussion for key stakeholders, including athletic directors, girls flag coaches, WIAA staff, and WFCA members.
The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association has indicated strong support as well, launching a dedicated Girls Flag Football section of their website and adding a flag football liaison to their Board of Directors.
“With 58 WIAA Wisconsin high schools prepared to compete in girls' flag football this year, a means to establish a statewide competition, and the significant support from the WFCA and Green Bay Packers, we believe girls' flag football has satisfied the benchmarks necessary to move forward in the WIAA sanctioning process,” reads the girls flag football committee letter. “We respectfully request that the WIAA initiate the process of presenting girls' flag football to the membership for consideration as a sanctioned championship sport to be voted upon by the membership during the April 2027 annual meeting.”
To read the full letter from the girls flag football committee, see below.
Travis Wilson serves as the Bound Wisconsin Manager. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisBound or reach him at [email protected].
