Welcome to the March 17 edition of the women's flag football newsletter here at Collegiate Flag Football. This will cover news between March 10 and March 16, 2025. We will take a look at the various stories and happenings across the sport...

3 Schools Add Flag Football

Long Island University (NY) is the latest team to add women's flag football. The Sharks will start competing in the 2025-26 academic year and will be the fourth NCAA Division I team to add flag football as a varsity sport.

Wingate will start competing in the 2025-26 academic year as a member of the Conference Carolinas, which will have 9 members in 2026. The 9 Conference Carolina teams will be Barton (NC), Chowan (NC), Emmanuel (GA), Erskine (NC), Ferrum (VA), King (TN), Lees-McRae (NC), Mount Olive (NC), and Wingate (NC).

Nevada State also announced it will add a women's flag football team beginning in the 2025-26 academic year. NSU will not have an affiliation with any governing body as it seeks to compete as an independent for the 2026 season.

Coaching News

Penn State Harrisburg announced that Drew Scales will lead the program. Scales played college football at NCAA Division II Slippery Rock from 2013 through 2016. Harrisburg will begin competing in the NCAA Division III United East Conference during the 2026 season.

St. Thomas Aquinas (NY) announced the hiring of Joshua Maurer as the program's first head coach. Maurer has worked with numerous Division I football programs, with several in the northeast, including Army, Cornell, Holy Cross, New Hampshire, and Tennessee Tech. St. Thomas Aquinas will begin competing in the 2026 season.

Texas Wesleyan named Keenah Lambert as the flag football team's first head coach. Lambert has worked at Division I institutions Florida State, Hofstra, and Rhode Island. Texas Wesleyan's inaugural flag football season will be in 2026.

European Flag Football Championship Dates Set

The 2025 EURO Flag Championships will be held outside of Paris, France from September 24 - 27. The tournament will be a qualifier for both the men's and women's 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships. The previous tournament was held in 2023 in Ireland with Germany defeating Austria for the men's gold medal and Great Britain besting Spain on the women's side.

Future Camps and Clinics

As noted in last week's rundown, several schools announced dates for future flag football camps. New to the list of clinics is Ottawa University's (KS) coaching clinic on Sunday, March 30, 2025. RSVPs are due by Saturday, March 29 and attendees will be able to see Ottawa's flag football game on Sunday, followed by the coaching clinic.

First up is the Alabama State and Alabama Community College Conference College Showcase on Saturday, March 22, 2025. This one-day showcase will be held in Montgomery, Alabama, and is open to athletes with graduation years between 2025 and 2030.

The University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas, will host the Nike BallHER flag football camp from June 24 to June 26, 2025. Millersville University (PA) is hosting a camp from June 26 through 29, 2025, as noted by Cedar Crest College (PA) in nearby Allentown.

North Carolina HS Flag Football

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is assessing the interest of flag football at schools across the state. The association sent out a survey to all teams asking basic questions, including the level of interest. The NCHSAA found that only 52 programs played flag football while the NFL's Carolina Panthers found the number to be far higher at 119 teams. The NCHSAA might discuss whether to sanction flag football as a sport during its spring meeting.

14 states have already sanctioned flag football as a sport: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Two other states - Louisiana and Washington - have proposals in April 2025 that, if approved, would see flag football sanctioned as a high school sport.

Players of the Week Named

The NAIA's KCAC and Sun Conferences named their players of the week. For the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, Angel Ionae Kaio was named the Offensive Player of the Week while Kaley Phillips was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Week. In the Sun Conference, Haylie Young garnered Offensive weekly honors and Janae Scott picked up the Defensive side honors.

CFF Website News

Let's end the newsletter with some more self-promotion. The list of current collegiate flag football teams was updated to include club teams. As always, please let us know if any teams are missing or any information is incorrect. We can be contacted via email or social media. We also updated the list of future teams to include the new additions Long Island, Nevada State, and Wingate discussed above.