For reporters

Prep Flag Football is a public record of how each state high school association has handled girls' flag football, and of where the sport stands in college. Every state entry links to the association's own document and shows the date a person checked it.

The numbers, today

• 22 states and the District of Columbia have sanctioned girls' flag football, by our count.
• 6 more run association-recognised pilot or emerging programmes; 2 have been checked and have not sanctioned the sport.
• 30 of 51 entries have been checked against the association's own materials. The rest say so on their page.

These figures update whenever the data does. The state list has each state's status, and the upcoming decisions page lists the votes still to come.

Why our number differs from others

We count a state as sanctioned when its association has formally adopted the sport, whether or not the first season has been played. Championship structure is recorded separately. The District of Columbia is counted but reported separately from the states.

Other published counts use different, usually unstated, rules. The NFHS membership map showed 20 in August 2026; USA Football listed 21 in May 2026; press coverage has used figures from 9 to 24. Our post Why nobody agrees how many states have sanctioned girls flag football sets the lists side by side and explains each difference. The methodology page sets out our rules in full.

Cases worth knowing before you write "the Nth state":

• Kentucky sanctioned in May 2026 but will not play until spring 2028.
• California sanctioned in 2023 but has no state championship; sections crown champions.
• Connecticut holds a championship run outside its athletic conference.
• Louisiana is in a two-year pilot before final adoption, though some national lists count it as sanctioned.
• Mississippi recognises the sport, but its own rules name a "season winner" rather than a state champion for now.

Data you can use

• states.csv — the whole state tracker, one row per state, free to use with attribution.
• State Reference (PDF) — the same data as a printable summary.
• Field definitions and licence.
• College overview — NAIA, NJCAA, NCAA and 3C2A status and timelines.

How to cite

Prep Flag Football, Girls' High School Flag Football Sanctioning by State, prepflagfootball.com, accessed [date].

For a single state, link to its page, which carries the source document and the date we checked it.

Corrections and contact

We log every correction publicly, with the date and what changed, on the corrections page.

For questions, a state we have not yet checked, or anything the data doesn't cover, email info@prepflagfootball.com. If you think an entry is wrong, email corrections@prepflagfootball.com — a link to the association's document helps most.