Flag football leagues coming to Minnesota, with Vikings investing in high school girls, colleges

Minnesota's most widespread and organized push for girls flag football is coming this spring.

A new regional college league will kick off in April, followed by an expanded Minnesota high school league running late April through June.

The local flag football pipeline is backed by the Vikings and sizably grows the reach of the four-team high school tournament they played host to last June.

"It's really important that [opportunities] are grown in parallel to capitalize on the existing interest [and] to give girls an opportunity to aspire to something, to see that next level," said Joe Rush, Vikings youth and high school football manager.

Half a million girls ages 6-17 played flag football in 2023, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, but in Minnesota, the sport had topped out mostly at the recreation level, with few scholastic opportunities at high schools or colleges.

Colleges up first

At least six local Division II and III colleges will compete in an interconference league in April — the first of its kind in the Upper Midwest. The six committed NCAA institutions are Augustana, Concordia (Moorhead), Gustavus, Bethel, Northwestern (St. Paul) and Wisconsin-Stout.

Gustavus Director of Club Sports Brett Robertson said the Gusties' team will be a blend of current varsity athletes, non-varsity athletes with past recreational football experience and interested students who were "fans of the game."

But they all had one thing in common.

"The first day we announced, 'Is anybody interested?' we had a line out my door of women wanting more information," Robertson said.

Teams will play in two jamborees: one at Northwestern (St. Paul) on April 5, and another a week later at Stout. The season will end with a championship tournament on April 26, hosted at the Vikings' TCO Stadium in Eagan.

To help cover operating costs and equipment, the Vikings have pledged $70,000 to the local league, with another $70,000 matched by the NFL.

On Feb. 12, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics recommended the sport be given "emerging status," though the NCAA has no organized flag league or national championship. Last week, the Division III Atlantic East Conference announced its own women's flag league in partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has 23 schools competing for a national title this year, though only one — Siena Heights in Adrian, Mich. — is north of Nebraska.

"I think that it will be a recruiting piece in the future, for us to say we offer flag, whether it's a standalone sport or it's a supplement to your regular sport [for other varsity athletes]," said Matt Hill, director of athletics at Northwestern (St. Paul). "It's definitely an opportunity for us to grow our enrollment."

High school expands

Last year, four high school flag football teams — La Crescent-Hokah, Rosemount, Pine Island and Kasson-Mantorville — battled in a spring pilot season. This year's offering will be a "sizable" expansion upon last year, said Rush.

In September, the Vikings' goal was to reach, at least, the minimum threshold of 20 teams that must compete interscholastically for two years in order for the Minnesota State High School League to consider granting a sport "emerging status" — step one in official sanctioning.

Details on which schools will compete will be announced in late March, and early signs point to the number of teams being more than double the Vikings' original goal.

The Vikings said the plan is for an eight-game high school season to start after the college competition and end with June playoffs, also at TCO Stadium.

Terry Donovan coached the La Crescent-Hokah team last spring and recently fielded calls from curious coaches and administrators considering joining.

"I got to go up to a football clinic last weekend. Everybody was talking about it," Donovan said. "It's awesome. It is kind of surreal to see that."

The spring competition will not be governed by the MSHSL, but the Vikings have a "longstanding partnership" with the league, the team said.

"Conversations are really just keeping them up to speed and updated so they can properly gauge the growth of the sport and ultimately look towards the future," Rush said. "The ultimate goal of having the [varsity] sanctioning in Minnesota, they're going to be a key voice at that table."

Currently, 14 states' athletic associations have sanctioned flag football, while others field pilot programs. Illinois is the only midwestern state with current sanctioning.

These two leagues will be 5-on-5 leagues, matching the format for when women's and men's flag football make Olympic debuts in Los Angeles in 2028.