A recent National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) report shows that high school girls have an increased opportunity to play flag football. Eleven states have officially sanctioned games, and Illinois and Colorado will add the sport in 2024. Montana offers the sport as a pilot program.
The data compiled by the NSGA and found in its Sports Participation in the U.S. Report shows overall flag football participation at 6.2 million and female participation at 1.6 million for 2023, an increase from 2022 by 10 percent for 5.7 million total participants and 55 percent for 1 million female participants. The 2023 figures marked the second consecutive year in which overall participation increased after declining during the pandemic from 2020 and 2021.
Participation in flag football among ages 7 to 17 was 2.3 million, up slightly from 2.2 million in 2022. This increase was driven by girls’ playing the game, which increased from 419,000 in 2022 to 547,000 in 2023, offsetting a slight decrease in boys’ participation during the same period.
The number of frequent participants in flag football, defined as those who played for 50 or more days during the given year, reached 680,000 overall, up from 450,000 during the previous year. The level of occasional participants, those playing 10 to 49 days during a given year, remained relatively flat compared to the previous year. The infrequent participant segment includes those who played 2 to 9 days, and this segment saw an increase in participation from 2.9 million to 3.2 million.
For the past year, there has been a shift in girls playing flag football in high school, as 46 percent fell into the occasional and frequent categories. By comparison, occasional and frequent participants represented 27 percent of female participation in 2022.
Data from NSGA’s Lifecycle Demographics report shows flag football participants from low and/or middle-income families were twice as likely to play flag football more frequently.
According to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), over 100 high schools in Illinois are participating in the inaugural girls’ flag football state series in the fall of 2024, and nearly 40 additional schools reported they anticipate fielding a team in 2025. The season is scheduled to begin the week of August 26, with state finals being held October 18-19.
The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) reported that 70 schools will participate in the state’s inaugural girls’ flag football season. A CHSAA spokesman said, “The sport is expected to grow quickly and double the number of schools participating by 2030.”
Image courtesy CMS Girls High School Flag Football League
