Cal Poly to Add Women's Flag Football
California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) will add a women's varsity flag football team as early as the 2026-27 academic year. Cal Poly is the sixth NCAA Division I school to announce a varsity team following Alabama State, Long Island (NY), Mercyhurst (PA), Mount St. Mary's (MD), and UT Arlington (TX). UTA will begin competing during the 2026-27 academic year while the other four will compete in the upcoming 2025-26 academic year.
Cal Baptist is the only other California-based NCAA Division I school that offers flag football and does so at the club level. Cal Poly is a member of the Big West Conference, which will see Cal Baptist join effective with the 2026-27 academic year. Four NCAA D-III schools within the SCIAC offer flag football. The NAIA has three California-based teams, which will compete in the Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC) for the upcoming season.
Flag football is well on its way to becoming part of the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women program. The program is a stepping stone to seeing sports added at a championship level. Most recently, women's wrestling graduated from the program and will see its first championship held in 2026. Cal Poly's press release stated that flag football could become an NCAA Championship in 2028.
The past week has seen over a dozen teams across all governing bodies announce the addition of flag football. The NJCAA provided grants to seven schools, the six schools in the NCAA Division III American Southwest Conference will sponsor flag football in the 2026-27 academic year, and Guilford College (NC) will compete starting in 2026-27. At the NCAA D-I level, five club teams will join the SWCFFA for the 2025-26 academic year with tournaments to be held in the fall and spring.
Over 220 colleges are expected to offer flag football at a club or varsity level for the 2025-26 academic year, including more than 100 new teams. The 2026-27 academic year has already seen two dozen schools announce the addition of flag football.