Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1526937
teaminsightmag.com September/October 2024 ~ Team Insight • 9 I n other news coming from the NFHS, at the request of its member state associations to address the nation's fastest-growing emerg- ing high school sport, the NFHS will be writing playing rules for flag football, effective with the 2025-26 season. e NFHS Board of Directors has approved the first NFHS Flag Football Rules Committee, which is set to meet in January, 2025 and author the first official national rules for high school flag football. e 2025-26 NFHS Flag Football Rules Book will be available by May 2025. While the NFHS Flag Football Rules Book will be written for both boys' and girls' com- petition, the growth of the girls' game the past several years drove the urgency for national playing rules. Currently, 12 state associations have sanc- tioned girls' flag football and another 19 states are involved in pilot programs at some level. States that have sanctioned the sport for girls include NFHS member associations in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York and Tennessee. Among the 12 states that have sanctioned girls' flag football, seven offer the sport in the fall (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois), four play in the spring (Florida, Hawaii, New York, Tennessee) and one in the winter season (Nevada). State associations with pilot programs include Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Girls' flag football has been a huge success in the aforementioned states, led by Florida's longest-standing program which now has more than 360 schools and almost 10,000 participants. Georgia reported more than 6200 participants last year and the Georgia High School Association, which has received sup- port from the Atlanta Falcons, held its third state championship last December – and the girls play during the same time period of the GHSA 11-Player Football State Championships at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Other states are certainly following Florida's lead. • Aer starting as a pilot program in 2013, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association has offered a girls' flag football championship since 2017 and interest continues to grow with more than 1600 participants and three classes of championships. • e Alabama High School Athletic Association held its first state championship in December 2023 in conjunction with the boys' state football championships at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, and the AHSAA indicated almost 2000 girls participated in 2023-24. • Likewise, the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) staged its first event in November 2023. A total of 54 schools competed in the first championship and the AIA expects another 40-50 schools in 2024, with rosters filled with athletes from other sports as well as students who have not previously played sports. • In New York, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association held its first girls' flag championship in June aer several years as a pilot program and about 4100 girls were involved this past year. • Illinois and California are sanctioning the sport for the first time in 2024. Although the California Interscholastic Federation is not conducting a state championship yet, almost 11,000 girls participated in flag football in 2023-24. e Illinois High School Association (IHSA) will offer girls' flag as a fall sport in 2024 and conduct its first state championship in October. Craig Anderson, IHSA executive director, says the addition of girls flag football furthers the IHSA mission of creating participation opportunities for high school students in Illinois. n NFHS WRITING RULES FOR FLAG FOOTBALL