The data
The whole tracker is one CSV file, published openly.
Download states.csv — 51 rows, one per state and the District of Columbia. Updated whenever an entry changes.
Download the State Reference (PDF) — the same data as a printable reference, with the sanctioning mechanisms and rules differences summarised. Rebuilt from the CSV whenever an entry changes.
It is served with permissive CORS headers, so you can fetch it directly from a script, a notebook or another site without proxying it.
https://prepflagfootball.com/data/states.csv
Why it is public
A reference that hides its data is asking to be trusted rather than checked. Everything we publish is derived from this file, so anyone who wants to verify a number, chart it, or use it for something we have not thought of should be able to.
If you find an error in it, that is worth more to us than a compliment. Email corrections@prepflagfootball.com.
Fields
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
state |
State or district name |
postal |
Two-letter postal code |
slug |
URL segment on this site |
status |
sanctioned, pilot, none (shown as "Not sanctioned": checked, and the association has not adopted the sport) or unconfirmed |
assoc_abbr, assoc_name, assoc_url |
The governing association |
first_sanctioned_season |
Academic year the sport took effect |
participating_schools |
Count, where the association publishes one |
season_window |
When the sport is played in that state |
state_championship |
Whether a championship exists; blank where the association's own documents conflict |
championship_level |
state, section or none |
first_championship_year |
|
ruleset |
NFHS, NFHS with adoptions, or a state's own rulebook |
source_url, source_date, source_type |
The document backing the entry |
verified_primary_source |
yes only if a person has read the source document |
last_verified |
The date that check happened |
notes |
Narrative detail, including votes, thresholds and history |
The two fields that matter most
verified_primary_source is the honest column. It is yes only when a person has
opened the association's own materials and confirmed the entry. Rows marked no are not
claims that nothing is happening — they are entries we have not checked yet.
last_verified is the date that check happened, not the date the file was edited.
An entry verified in March and untouched since still reads March.
If you are using this data, filter on those two fields according to how much confidence your use requires.
Known limitations
- Not every entry is verified. The homepage states the current proportion.
participating_schoolscomes from different years in different states, because associations publish on different cycles. Treat cross-state comparisons carefully.- Sanctioning is a moving target. Association votes cluster around board meetings, which run heaviest in spring and fall.
- We count the District of Columbia separately from the fifty states.
College data
The college programmes list is built from a second file,
college-programs.csv, which is not yet published for download: most of its rows are
still being checked, and we publish rows only once they are confirmed. When it is
released, its fields will be:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
school, slug |
Institution name as its conference lists it; URL segment |
state |
Two-letter postal code of the institution, not of its home venue |
body |
NAIA, NJCAA, or NCAA with division (NCAA D-II) |
conference |
Conference for flag football, which can differ from the school's main conference |
level |
varsity |
first_season |
The spring in which the programme first played |
athletics_url |
The programme's page on the school's athletics site |
scholarships |
Blank unless the school or governing body states it |
source_url, source_date, source_type, verified_primary_source, last_verified, notes |
As in the state file |
The governing bodies on the college overview come from a small third file,
college-bodies.csv, with the same provenance fields.
Licence and citation
The data is free to use, including commercially. We ask for attribution and a link, so that anyone downstream can trace a figure back to the association document behind it.
Suggested citation:
Prep Flag Football, Girls' High School Flag Football Sanctioning by State, prepflagfootball.com, accessed [date].
If you are a journalist working to a deadline and need something the file does not cover, email us. We would rather help you get it right than see another number enter circulation with no method behind it.
See methodology for the counting rules and source hierarchy, and why the counts disagree for what happens when nobody publishes either.