Radford Adding Flag Football

Radford University (VA) is adding a women's flag football team for the 2025-26 academic year. The team will compete at the club level, becoming 40th NCAA Division I institution to offer the sport. Only four NCAA Division I schools offer flag football as a varsity sport: Alabama State, Long Island (NY), Mercyhurst (PA), and Mount St. Mary's (MD).

Radford becomes the first Big South Conference school to offer the sport at either the club or varsity level. Over 85 schools are set to add flag football beginning in 2025-26. Radford's location in Virginia gives the school plenty of opponents to choose from in surrounding states. Over 200 club and varsity college teams are expected to compete during the 2026 spring season.

The NCAA has taken notice of the growth and is proposing that it enter the Emerging Sports for Women program. Eventually, the sport could become an official NCAA championship sport at all three divisions. The NAIA already has nearly two dozen varsity programs, led by the KCAC and the Sun Conference.

15 states have sanctioned flag football at the high school level: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington. Louisiana approved a pilot program earlier this year, while Indiana and Missouri both designated it an emerging sport.