Fairfax County Public Schools is putting its first girls flag football season in the win column. This sport was offered for the first time this year at all of FCPS’s 25 high schools, and more than 770 girls participated. In flag football, players pull flags on an opponent’s belt instead of tackling them.
“I don’t want to overstate it, but it’s been exceptional,” says Tom Horn, executive director of student activities and athletics for FCPS. “Schools have not had any difficulty building teams. Schools have had more interest at some places than they do opportunity, which is something we’ll work to correct going forward.”
Horn confirmed that FCPS will offer girls flag football again next fall.
FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid credits the enthusiasm to the increasing availability of flag football scholarships to universities. And its upcoming debut as an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
A Level Playing Field
“We want to make sure our students have access and opportunity for any postsecondary education or future life endeavors,” Reid says. “My expectation is that we have a future Olympian that’s playing on the flag football field right now this fall. So, we expect to see our young women competing at the university and Olympic level very shortly.”
Another benefit, she adds: “This is one sport girls can turn out for in ninth grade with a level playing field. They didn’t have to start at 8 years old on a pay-to-play team.”
Adam Neff, who coaches the girls flag team at Chantilly High School, says the interest in playing surprised him. “I put out an interest form [and got] about 88 responses,” Neff says. “Sixty-eight girls came out for tryouts, which was amazing to see. … The girls that were interested in it either watch it with their dad or brothers or both. Or they have brothers that have played and never really had an option. And that really tugs at my heartstrings to see them get the opportunity.”
At Falls Church High, Coach Katelyn Charlotin says more than 65 girls joined the team. “It’s a lot of new athletes that have never played a fall sport before, and they’ve found their thing,” Charlotin says.
They’re not alone. Girls flag football is growing nationwide. The number of participants grew by 60 percent from the 2023-2024 to the 2024-2025 school years, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations. Although it is not sanctioned by the Virginia High School League, girls flag football is sanctioned in about a dozen other states.
Winning Partnership
FCPS, the state’s largest public school district, was able to offer the flag football program thanks to a partnership with the Washington Commanders. The NFL team announced in August that it would contribute more than $1 million to 127 flag football programs at schools DMV-wide, including in Arlington, Fauquier, and Prince William counties. The Commanders also provided each school with custom Nike uniforms and an NFL Flag Kit that includes 50 flags, 10 footballs, and instructional materials.
“The partnership with the Commanders made it fiscally possible” to offer girls flag football, Horn says, adding that they will work together again next fall. “We could do this with no budgetary impact because of the partnership with the Commanders. With the interest from the students and the interest from coaches and the support of the [directors of student activities] and the principals at those schools, it just took off really fast. [It was] as easy an inaugural season in any sport as possible.”
Team Bonding
Flag football offers several benefits for players beyond physical fitness, Reid says. “Fundamentally, active young people are more mentally healthy, they’re better students, they’re healthier young people,” she says. “Every young person wants to belong — belong to a team, belong to a group, a club, a school community, and this is just one more avenue for that.”
In fact, Charlotin and Neff say, they’re seeing friendships develop among girls who might not have otherwise spoken to one another.
“It’s really fun to see how much they’ve bonded and support each other in school and not just on the field,” Charlotin says. “That’s been, I think, the biggest benefit that I see.”
For Neff, a math teacher, it’s about the teamwork: “They get so much more, in my humble opinion, from the competition field than they do in the classroom in terms of accountability,” he says. “There’s a lot of growth in the sport, but also as human beings that I’ve seen so far and it’s pretty amazing.”
Feature image courtesy Jeff Clark/FCPS
