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As girls flag football continues to grow in popularity, some Arizona universities are now offering it as a club sport or official team.
The sport gained notable recognition in the state in 2023, when the Arizona Interscholastic Association made high school flag football a varsity sport. And that has helped fuel interest at the collegiate level.
Last year, Grand Canyon University started its club team.
“Well, it seemed to be more recreational in nature five or six years ago,” said Dan Nichols, GCU’s director of club sports. “We started to feel the undercurrents of it growing in the past couple of years.”
Nichols said the group who started it all was composed of 10 to 12 girls. There are currently two full teams at the college. A full team is 10 players, according to the NFL flag football team rules.
“We can expand out to and have multiple teams, with multiple levels,” Nichols said. “We always try to use this model to allow as many student athletes as possible to play.”
GCU is currently in communication with Arizona State University and University of Arizona about creating a competitive club league for students.
“I think that’s why it’s such an attractive option. Students can come play competitive flag football here, and probably can do it for a lot less than they could somewhere else,” Nichols said.
Some colleges, such as Glendale-based Arizona Christian University, have created official school teams. ACU is in the process of building its first varsity team.
“Our goal is obviously to be competitive, but when it comes to building a team, to be truly unified,” said head coach Matt Maccagano. “They’re trend-setters, they’re the genesis of this program.”
Since being announced as head coach in November, he said he has talked to more than 400 recruits.
ACU is planning to play other regional schools like Ottawa University, which has a campus in Surprise, and colleges in California as it actively builds its team and schedule.
“To see the growth nationwide, especially just nationwide is cool, but what is really awesome is that the Western states are starting to get on board as far as acknowledging the sport,” Maccagano said.
The NCAA currently recognizes flag football as a club sport, but not a varsity sport. Maccagano said the next steps in flag football are getting it in all 50 states at the varsity high school and collegiate levels.
“To push it to the Division I level is obviously a goal,” Maccagano said. “That is going to open more universities and more athletic and scholarship opportunities for girls to not only play a sport that they love, but to pursue a degree as well.”