Flag football's college growth has local high school coaches excited about player opportunities

Jun. 26, When the California Interscholastic Federation added girls flag football to its roster of sponsored sports for high schools in the state, the numbers exploded.

Now, the college world is starting to catch up, with Sacramento State joining the number of colleges that have announced they plan to start an NCAA Division I women's flag football program. In a June 15 press release, the university's athletic department outlined the plan to start as a club program in 2026 before transitioning to D-I when the NCAA adds the sport in the 2027-28 season.

The NCAA named flag football an Emerging Sport for Women in January, giving it a roadmap to becoming a full sport. According to the NCAA, once in the Emerging Sports for Women program, a sport must have a minimum of 40 schools sponsoring the sport at the varsity level and meet minimum contest and participation requirements to be considered for NCAA championship status.

Sacramento is joining Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in plans to be one of those 40 schools, much to the delight of flag football coaches in Lodi.

"For the way the sport is growing, it's good to see a local university like Sac State taking the next step in continuing to build the culture of the sport and providing our women athletes an additional opportunity to excel in a sport at the collegiate level," said Lodi coach Trent Meier. "I recently saw that Sac State hosted a flag football clinic for the high schools in the area in the beginning of summer, and an experience like that gives the athletes a platform to perform and show their abilities in front of D-I coaches."

George Bozovich, who is returning as Tokay High's head coach this fall after Vincent Cecchetti took over for last year, agreed.

"The fact at our girls are going to have that opportunity to possibly play flag football close to home is amazing. Being close to home having family and friends and an extra support system. I think it's a definite recipe for success for these young ladies," Bozovich said. "Flag football is just gonna take off. I don't think there's anything that could really hold it back. It's just a matter of time."

Flag football was introduced to the CIF for the 2023-24 season, and the Sac-Joaquin Section started with 69 teams. The next year, it jumped to 130, and growth continued last year with a wave of new programs that included Galt and Liberty Ranch. This month, the annual Lions All-Star Football Game in Tracy included a flag football game.

While the Sacramento State and Cal Poly programs are one sign the sport is catching on in the college ranks, there are other hints as well. The California Community College Athletic Association, the governing body for junior college sports in California, announced in May that it, too, was adding flag football to its sports offerings. It will begin as an emerging sport for the 2026-27 school year, and once 10 schools have a program for two consecutive years, it will be elevated to a championship sport.

Melody Mallette, a spokeswoman for the organization, said that a number of schools are working to add the sport.

"I don't have an official count at this time since most are still sponsoring programs as a club program, so we don't have a way of officially tracking them because they don't have to meet 3C2A eligibility requirements and complete the required paperwork," she said. "I do know that schools such as Cypress, Irvine Valley, Saddleback, Golden West, Ventura, Diablo Valley, Norco, Santa Barbara, East LA, Modesto, Mira Costa, and Citrus already have teams and many more are announcing their intent and/or that they are fielding teams for 2026-27."

Closer to home, San Joaquin Delta College's Alex Breitler, the school's director of marketing and communications, said with the CCCAA's announcement is still very new.

"We are aware of the CCCAA's action and have had informal conversations about it," Breitler said. "But there is nothing concrete to share at this point."

Down the street at the University of Pacific, athletic director Adam Tschuor said he had seen Sacramento State's announcement.

"It is something we have had discussions about and are currently researching the possible addition of flag football to our offerings," Tschuor said.

Meier is anxious to see the college world expand its offerings.

"Flag football is everywhere from all social media outlets, to being played in the NFL Pro Bowl, and even the Olympics; it's awesome for a school in our area to be a part of the movement," he said. "For California, the JuCos need to integrate their own teams since there will be a lot of girls looking to play at the next level."

Bozovich said he will try to get some of his athletes at Sacramento State to represent Tokay. The Tigers have one former player in college with the flag football program, with Jaden Hiers at Ferrum College in Virginia, which was part of the first wave of NAIA schools to offer the sport. Meanwhile, St. Mary's Presley DaCruz, who is from Lodi, was one of Cal Poly's first signings for its flag football program.

"I think over the next few years we'll start seeing more girls hit the college scene because of Flag," Bozovich said.