SUNY Old Westbury Adding Flag Football

For the second time this week, a school has announced it will add flag football next season. SUNY Old Westbury (NY) will field a club flag football team in the fall of 2025 and will transition it to a varsity program by the start of the 2026 season. Saint Leo University (FL) announced on Thursday that it will add flag football in 2026.

Old Westbury is a member of the NCAA Division III Skyline Conference, which currently has three teams competing in the 2025 spring season: Mount Saint Mary (NY), St. Joseph's Brooklyn (NY), and St. Joseph's Long Island (NY).

80 schools are set to add flag football for the 2026 spring season in addition to the over 120 club and varsity teams competing in 2025. Of the 220+ schools currently expected to have a club or varsity flag football team in 2026, 20 of them will be located in New York.

In February, the NCAA recommended that flag football join the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, which provides a pathway to becoming a championship sport. All three divisions could end up sponsoring a championship sport in the future but require a minimum of 40 schools at the varsity level. Flag football will also make its Olympic debut in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.