We Checked 18 More States: Where Girls Flag Football Is Moving Next

November 1, 2026

Until this week, 20 of our state entries were marked unconfirmed: we had not checked them against the state association's own materials, so we kept those pages out of search. We have now checked 18 of them, along with Minnesota and Rhode Island, whose 17 August 2026 sanctioning vote we have now read in the RIIL's own minutes. 50 of 51 entries are now confirmed from association documents. Virginia is the one still unconfirmed.

None of the 18 states has sanctioned girls' flag football. In each one, the sport is absent from the association's own list of sports or championships, which is how we record a state as not sanctioned. That does not mean nobody plays. In most of these states schools play in leagues run outside the association, often with an NFL club's money behind them.

What is more useful is where something is moving. In six of the newly checked states the association's own documents show the sport on the table.

Nebraska: four proposals, with a vote in April

Member schools have filed four proposals to make girls' flag football a three-year emerging sport from 2027-28: Millard South, Brady, and two from South Sioux City. They follow the model the NSAA used for girls' wrestling in 2020. Three would start play in spring 2028; one puts the sport in the fall from 2027. The proposals go to district meetings in November and January, the Legislative Commission in February and the Representative Assembly in April 2027. Nebraska.

Massachusetts: a new process, and an application under it

The MIAA turned the sport down in the 2025-27 rules cycle. In November 2025 its Board adopted a written process: a sport can become an Emerging Sport with 15% of member schools behind it, and can seek championship status at 20%, currently 76 schools. Applications were due on 1 October 2026; reporting says girls' flag football advocates filed one, and the Board's October agenda had an item on adopting a sport. The MIAA has not published a decision. Massachusetts.

Wisconsin: a membership survey

At its October 2026 meeting the WIAA Board of Control authorized its staff to survey members on their interest in girls' flag football. No timeline was given. Wisconsin.

West Virginia: a spring 2027 season backed by the WVSSAC

The WVSSAC's own flag football page carries a flyer saying the association, with the Washington Commanders and Pittsburgh Steelers, supports the growth of girls' flag football in the state's high schools. A Commanders plan on the same page describes spring 2027 as a pilot season. We record West Virginia as not sanctioned for now and will move it to pilot once WVSSAC-recognised play begins. West Virginia.

New Mexico and Wyoming: on the agenda, no vote

The NMAA Board of Directors listed girls' flag football as a discussion item on 23 September 2026. Wyoming's WHSAA Board heard it mentioned among possible new activities in February 2026, with no motion. New Mexico, Wyoming.

Two that look like flag football but are not

Delaware's DIAA and Utah's UHSAA both have Unified flag football: a separate programme for students with and without intellectual disabilities. Delaware runs a Unified Flag Football championship and Utah is piloting it. Neither is girls' flag football, and neither counts toward sanctioning. Delaware, Utah.

The rest

Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Vermont: the sport is not on the association's list, and we found no association document taking it up. Several have active leagues outside the association, according to reporting: South Carolina's has Carolina Panthers support, and North Dakota and South Dakota have programmes backed by the Minnesota Vikings. Each state's page records what we found and links to it.

Our count is unchanged by this: 23 states and the District of Columbia have sanctioned the sport. Upcoming votes in Minnesota, Nebraska and elsewhere are on the decisions calendar. If any entry is wrong, write to corrections@prepflagfootball.com.

Sanctioning status for every state is tracked on the national tracker. See methodology for how we source and date entries.