Lewis University, Union College Adding Women's Flag Football
Lewis University will add a varsity women's flag football team beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Lewis is located in Romeoville, Illinois, and is the first school from the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) to add a club or varsity program. The university confirmed in an email that the program will initially compete as an independent.
Union College in Schenectady, New York, will also add a women's flag football program beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Union is the second team from the NCAA Division III Liberty League to add the sport, following William Smith College (NY) earlier this month.
Lewis is the 12th school in Illinois to add flag football. Aurora University (NCAA D-III), Benedictine University (NCAA D-III), College of DuPage (NJCAA), Illinois College (NCAA D-III), Illinois Wesleyan University (NCAA D-III), North Park University (NCAA D-III), Rockford University (NCAA D-III), and Triton College (NJCAA) will compete during the 2025-26 academic year. Lewis will join Blackburn College (NCAA D-III), Millikin University (NCAA D-III), and Eureka College (NCAA D-III) as new programs for the 2026-27 academic year.
Lewis is one of six NCAA Division II schools that are expected to start competing during the 2026-27 academic year. Caldwell University (NJ), Goldey-Beacom College (DE), Point Park University (PA), Saginaw Valley State University (MI), and the University of West Alabama have also announced new programs. More D-II schools will also be announcing the addition of flag football in the next few months.
With future teams included, New York has the second-most flag football programs at 29. Just ahead of the Empire State is Pennsylvania, which has 30 programs. Expect those numbers to change frequently due to the sport's growth. Over 220 programs are expected to compete at the club or varsity level in 2025-26, while another 40 will start playing in 2026-27. All the growth is expected to result in flag football being added to the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women Program early in 2026.