PHOENIX — Girl's flag football is officially a sport at the high school level.
On Monday, the Arizona Interscholastic Association voted in favor of girl's flag football as the association's newest sanctioned sport.
The first season of play will be fall of 2023 and will coincide with the tackle football season. Prior to the sanctioning, the AIA's member schools played flag football in the spring.
Flag football was established as a sanctioned sport as data showed a significant number of schools in Arizona will be able to field a team in the inaugural season.
“We’re excited the Executive Board has approved girls flag football as a sanctioned sport. We’ll have a state championship in year No. 1,” said AIA Executive Director David Hines. “Our hope is to see fast growth of the sport within the membership.”
“It is awesome that flag football has skipped emerging status and jumped in with both feet as a sanctioned sport,” added Rae Black, head coach for Casteel. “It’s growing fast in Arizona and we want to keep up with the other states where it is succeeding. We want to play in that stadium under the lights and get a trophy at the end. I’m glad for this initial group of girls that will get to experience this.”
The AIA says creating more opportunities for Arizona's high school athletes is a main tenet of the association. And with more states adopting flag football as a varsity sport, the hope is to have the NCAA eventually offer it along with scholarship opportunities.
ABC15 spoke with the girls flag football coached of Casteel and Chandler High Schools Tuesday.
They say they are excited to watch them play.
"It means a lot because there is a big difference between something being an emerging sport and something being an actual sanctioned sport where you get a championship,” said Casteel High School’s Rae Black.
“It lets the girls know they have that support and someone that believes in their vision and dream for where this can go instead of just something they do in high school,” said Chandler High School’s Christy Herndon.
