Flag football is coming to the Olympics. Could girls flag football be next IHSAA sport?

[Muda69]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2024/08/23/girls-flag-football-could-be-next-ihsaa-sport/74905508007/

Quote

One of the new events coming to the summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 is flag football. One event for men, one for women.

It is possible that Indiana could produce some of those future flag football Olympians, particularly on the girls’ side, where it has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the country at the high school level.

“We’ve seen a rapid rise in the participation numbers for flag football,” Karissa Niehoff, the chief executive officer of the National Federation of State High School Associations, said this week. “Primarily girls, at the high school level … we’re seeing numbers go through the roof.”

According to numbers provided this week by the NFHS on participation numbers from all states in all sports at the high school level, there are 12 state associations that have sanctioned girls’ flag football and participation more than doubled (from 20,875 competing in 2022-23 to 42,955 in 2023-24) in a one-year span. Neighboring state Illinois will offer girls flag football as a fall sport this year with its first state championship set for Oct. 18-19.

 

Indiana is one of 19 states currently with a pilot program for girls’ flag football (Michigan and Ohio are among the others). Indiana High School Athletic Association commissioner Paul Neidig said there are 27 schools that are participating this fall.

“We’ve never had events but we’ve never had an inaugural season and this year is going to be that,” Neidig said. “I think we’ll see growth there.”

Neidig said he has hopes girls’ flag football will be voted through as an emerging sport next year. The IHSAA added girls’ wrestling and boys’ volleyball as sanctioned sports recently after progressing through as emerging sports.

“From our experience, it will rapidly grow from there,” Neidig said of the potential for adding the flag football as an emerging sport. “We have no reason to believe it won’t.”

Ben Davis was one of four schools that started girls’ flag football three years ago through a partnership with the Colts and the NFL. Eight schools participated last year, including Crispus Attucks, Tech, Washington and Shortridge, along with three South Bend schools. The Colts announced in July the launch of a youth flag football league with five sites in the Indianapolis area, two in Fort Wayne, one in Elkhart and one in Louisville, Ky.

Ben Davis athletic director Heather McGowan said the growth of the sport at her school was beyond her expectations. Going into the second year, over 40 girls came out for the team. This year, she had enough for a junior varsity team if there was enough competition for them to play.

“The sport is growing at a very rapid rate,” McGowan said. “Very quickly, it is going to be an emerging sport. We had eight teams in the state last year and 27 this year.”

McGowan pointed out that many of the athletes on the team were either not playing another sport or were just playing one sport previously, including several girls’ basketball players.

“When females can learn the game of football, it opens up opportunities for lifelong careers,” said McGowan, who traveled with the team to Washington D.C. for a national event put on by the NFL. “You don’t have to play football to have a career in football. So just opening up that avenue for them to understand how the game is played and where it can take them is a phenomenal experience.”

McGowan said one of the questions that arises is, “How can we add another sport?” It means more coaches, more facility space, more commitment.

Her answer: “It’s what’s best for kids. The hours might be a little bit long, but you go into this profession knowing you are going to put in long hours. It’s not a profession, it’s a lifestyle. This is what you do because that’s who you are and that’s what you’re about.”

The NFHS board of directors approved its first flag football rules committee, which will meet in January and author the first official national rules for high school flag football, which will be available by May of 2025.

A few other notes from the NFHS participation numbers released this week:

>> More than 8 million participants (8,062,302) competed in high school sports in the 2023-24 school year, an all-time record according to the NFHS. It is the second consecutive increase after numbers dropped during the pandemic.

>> 11-player football is the most popular boys sport (1,031,508 participants). There is also an increase in girls playing 11-player football (3,654 to 4,094).

>> Wrestling made a big jump for boys and girls. Boys increased by more than 32,000 nationally (291,874) and girls bumped to 64,247 nationwide – an increase of 102% in two years.

>> Outdoor track and field (506,015), volleyball (479,125) and soccer (383,895) are the top three participatory sports for girls. Girls basketball is No. 4 but down by 6,000.

>> Indiana is No. 19 in participation among the 50 states and District of Columbia with 160,245 for the 2023-24 school year (94,893 boys and 65,352 girls). Texas, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey and Minnesota are the top 10 states by total participation.

I wonder how some school athletic programs, already stretched paper thin, will be able add yet another sport.  Especially in poor and rural areas.  In Indian I see girl's flag football as primarily being offered in the the urban sprawls of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Elkhart/South Bend.   And maybe the Region.  I doubt you are going to see it in places like Warren, Pike, or Blackford counties anytime soon.

 

 

[Frozen Tundra]

35 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2024/08/23/girls-flag-football-could-be-next-ihsaa-sport/74905508007/

I wonder how some school athletic programs, already stretched paper thin, will be able add yet another sport.  Especially in poor and rural areas.  In Indian I see girl's flag football as primarily being offered in the the urban sprawls of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Elkhart/South Bend.   And maybe the Region.  I doubt you are going to see it in places like Warren, Pike, or Blackford counties anytime soon.

 

 

If girls flag football gets added then what boys sport are we adding? Gymnastics?

[Muda69]

Just now, Frozen Tundra said:

If girls flag football gets added then what boys sport are we adding? Gymnastics?

Is Boys Volleyball already an IHSAA sanctioned sport?

 

[Frozen Tundra]

9 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

Is Boys Volleyball already an IHSAA sanctioned sport?

 

Yes. It got added when girls wrestling did.

[Daniel_Bragg]

1 hour ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Yes. It got added when girls wrestling did.

Well, boys volleyball is still considered an "emerging sport", so I don't know that it is a fully recognized sport yet.  I know they officially recognized girls wrestling, as of this year I believe.

I actually spoke to the Sheridan HS AD about boys volleyball and she indicated that it is something that they are interested in, and she mentioned girls flag football as well.  I believe she said that Carmel was getting ready to, or has already, been very active in trying to get girls flag football going.

[combthehair]

5 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

If girls flag football gets added then what boys sport are we adding? Gymnastics?

dressage?

[Frozen Tundra]

5 minutes ago, combthehair said:

dressage?

If you add that for boys then you have to add it for girls too. That’s why I would think boys gymnastics would need to be offered. It used to be an IHSAA sport anyway.

[combthehair]

2 minutes ago, Frozen Tundra said:

If you add that for boys then you have to add it for girls too. That’s why I would think boys gymnastics would need to be offered. It used to be an IHSAA sport anyway.

What if a female horse was used? Does that change anything?

[gonzoron]

50 minutes ago, combthehair said:

dressage?

 

[Irishman]

3 hours ago, combthehair said:

dressage?

 

[combthehair]

9 minutes ago, Irishman said:

 

LOLOLOL