The number of girls playing flag football in U.S. high schools doubled to 11,000 in the decade leading up to 2018-19.
— which governs interscholastic sports in California — would take it up next month with a goal of making it an official sport in the nation’s most populous state for the 2023-24 school year.
While girls are allowed to play tackle football on high school teams in California, few do. Flag football allows them to experience the sport in a way "that has all the knowledge, skills, and ability and the strategy of traditional football without some of the more violent parts of it," said Paula Hart Rodas, president-elect of the CIF Southern Section’s council who previously coached Lawndale High School’s flag team.
The NFL sees flag football as a way to encourage its female fans. The Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers started a pilot high school league during the last school year, giving many girls a first shot at playing. The NFL — which invited a group of pilot league flag players to join tennis legend Billie Jean King for the coin toss at the last Super Bowl — has been driving interest at the high school level.