Alverno Adding Varsity Women's Flag Football; USC to Join NIRSA
Alverno University (WI) will add a varsity women's flag football team beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school has already started its search for a head coach. Antonio Rivas, Director of Athletics at Alverno, stated:
"I'm deeply grateful and excited to add flag football as our newest sport offering. As we continue to grow and expand our athletic programs, this investment by our administration shows the commitment to provide student athletes even more opportunities to play the sport they love and continue their education."
Alverno is currently a member of the NCAA Division III Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), but will depart and join the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Alverno is the first C2C member to add a club or varsity women's flag football team.
Wisconsin now has 13 club and varsity women's flag football programs. Alverno will join Beloit College (NCAA D-III), Bryant & Stratton College (NJCAA), Lakeland University (D-III), Lawrence University (D-III), Marian University (D-III), Mount Mary University (NAIA), Ripon College (D-III), UW-Oshkosh (D-III), UW-Parkside (D-II), UW-River Falls (D-III Club), UW-Stout (D-III Club), and Wisconsin Lutheran College. Alverno, Lawrence, and Wisconsin Lutheran are all slated to begin competing in the 2027-28 academic year.
USC to Join NIRSA Leagues
The USC Trojans will join NIRSA's Women's Flag Football Club Leagues for the 2026-27 academic year. USC is the 40th NCAA club team to join NIRSA's restructured leagues.
In early May, NIRSA announced a partnership with the NFL, which included an initial list of 14 schools: Bowling Green State University (OH), Clemson University (SC), Coastal Carolina University (SC), Florida Atlantic University, Grand Canyon University (AZ), North Carolina A&T State University, Pennsylvania State University, Radford University (VA), Texas Southern University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of North Florida, and University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
The list grew to 24 when another 10 schools were announced for the 2026-27 academic year: Arizona State University, Florida State University, North Carolina Central University, the University of Albany (NY), the University of Colorado, the University of Denver (CO), the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of South Florida.
Another 7 additions pushed the tally to 31: Duke University (NC), Georgia Southern University, North Carolina State University, Old Dominion University (VA), Plymouth State University (NH), the University of Michigan, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 5 more additions pushed the league up to 36 teams when Florida International University, Georgia College & State University, the University of Arizona, UCLA, and the University of Delaware were announced.
In late May, Indiana University became the 37th team to join, followed by Delaware State University and the University of California, Berkeley at the end of the month. The addition of USC is the first so far in June.
At least 50 teams are expected to compete in the NIRSA Women's Flag Football League, but that number could climb higher in the fall. More details regarding the schedules and end-of-season championship set for April 2027 will be provided at a later date. Teams interested in competing in NIRSA's women's flag football club league can reach out to National Flag Football Manager Nik Sandona via email at nik.sandona@nirsa.org.