On Wednesday, September 18, 2024, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) sanctioned girls’ flag football as an official high school sport starting as a spring sport in the 2024-2025 school year. The sanctioning of this sport has been a long-time goal of both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two NFL teams started girls’ flag football teams years ago and have been encouraging more and more girls to participate in the sport ever since.

For the PIAA to sanction girls’ flag football, there needed to be at least 100 teams statewide participating in leagues sanctioned by the Eagles and the Steelers. This past April, that requirement was finally fulfilled, allowing the sport to become an authorized part of high school athletics. Here, in District XI, there currently are no schools participating in the sport this coming spring, there are a whopping 63 schools statewide planning on establishing teams.

In addition, in the 2023-2024 school year alone, there was a total of 42,955 girls partaking in flag football across the country, more than double the year before. This rapid growth is expected to continue, leading more girls to find joy and excitement on the football field. Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles chairman and CEO, said, “This is not just an important day for the Eagles and Steelers, but for the sport of football and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” and, “…We thank the PIAA for their leadership in recognizing a sport that has the power to unlock new pathways and opportunities for girls of all ages in every community.”