Girls flag football is now an official high school sport in Illinois.
The Illinois High School Association announced Wednesday that girls flag football will be the latest sport to debut an IHSA State Series. The IHSA will conduct its inaugural postseason, culminating with an IHSA girls flag football state champion being crowned, in the fall of 2024.
“The addition of girls flag football furthers the IHSA mission of creating participation opportunities for high school students in Illinois,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson.
“The sport has experienced significant growth in a short amount of time, and our member schools are excited to see it become an IHSA sport. The Chicago Public Schools Athletic Administration and the Chicago Bears both deserve significant praise for their grassroots efforts in shepherding and supporting the growth of girls flag football in Illinois.”
Eric Matthews, athletic director for Galesburg District 205, tells WGIL, “At this time we are not pursuing (girls flag football) as a sport.”
Matthews cited multiple factors in Galesburg’s decision not to participate initially in girls flag football, including:
- Financial
- Not in the contract
- Should other sports we do not offer come first
- Title IX
- Schedule
- What this could do to other fall sports that we already offer
- Practice and game space/time/schedule/
The IHSA Board of Directors approved the girls flag football state series during their regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 4. The IHSA will offer a state series in 40 total sports and activities in 2024-25, in addition to its wheelchair basketball tournament, Unified games via its partnership with Special Olympics, and Athletes with Disabilities divisions in multiple sports.
“It is important for the IHSA to continue to adapt to the interests of our students and schools,” said Dan Tully, the Principal at Notre Dame College Prep in Niles and President of the IHSA Board of Directors. “Girls Flag Football is somewhat unprecedented in terms of its growth and timeline for achieving an IHSA State Series. We are enthusiastic about how much has been accomplished in such a short amount of time, and expect that participation will continue to increase in the years ahead.”
Girls flag football joins a growing list of sports and activities that have recently conducted their inaugural IHSA State Series, including girls wrestling (2022), Esports (2022), boys and girls lacrosse (2018), and competitive dance (2013).
The IHSA has commitments from over 100 schools to participate in the inaugural State Series in 2024, while nearly 40 other schools have expressed that they anticipate fielding a team in 2025.
“The Chicago Public League (CPL) is thrilled that high school girls flag football is now an IHSA-sanctioned sport.” said David Rosengard, Executive Director of Sports Administration at Chicago Public Schools.” It is amazing to see the rapid growth of the sport across the state, as what started as an inaugural league in partnership with Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Bears has now expanded to over 100 participating teams and IHSA sanctioning. We cannot thank the Bears, IHSA and our CPL leagues enough for what they have done to pioneer this sport in the city and state.”
