Press Box: Collegiate women’s flag football breaks down barriers
Illustration by Abigail Gleeson.
Drew Thompson, Staff Writer
The Atlantic East Conference is making waves and breaking down gender barriers in sports this upcoming spring.
The Division III conference is the first NCAA conference to officially launch a varsity women’s flag football division with optimism that this will help make the sport become officially sponsored by the NCAA, according to ESPN.
The NFL plays a sizable role in this decision with the league continuing its ongoing efforts to promote women’s flag football. The Atlantic East credited that it was able to make the season possible thanks to a grant received from the NFL, according to the Atlantic East Conference.
The significance of this decision cannot be overstated. Women’s flag football can and will become a successful sport in the near future.
Women’s flag football has been one of the largest growing sports in the world over the past 15 years, with big companies like the NFL and Nike taking notice and investing large sums, according to Just Women’s Sports.
NFL Flag 50 is the NFL’s “call to action” to increase flag football, with a large emphasis on women’s flag football, according to Play Football. NFL Flag 50 used an ad during Super Bowl LIX to highlight the rapid growth of women’s flag football in recent years.
Women’s flag football is already a sanctioned high school sport in 14 states across the United States, according to NFL Flag.
The Atlantic East is only the beginning of this sport at the collegiate level. I believe the NCAA will come to sponsor it officially within five to 10 years and that this will be a defining moment for women’s flag football and women’s sports as a whole.
American football has consistently been viewed as a male-dominated sport. The rapid ascension of women’s flag football not only breaks down those preconceived notions, but it also has already proven to be successful.
Additionally, the Olympics announced that women’s flag football will debut as an official Olympic sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, according to USA Football.
With this newfound spotlight on the sport, it is undoubtedly going to attract more attention and become increasingly popular from here on out.
I think with the Atlantic East Conference and the Olympics both taking initiatives to propel women’s flag football, many more doors will be opened.
These decisions and constant funding will see an even larger increase in the amount of women who participate in sports.
Not only that, with more states sanctioning women’s flag football as an official high school sport, the athletes will hypothetically be able to continue with the sport in college on scholarships.
This decision paves new pathways for athletes in women’s flag football and female athletes as a whole. Expect to see much more women’s flag football in the near future.
