UW-Parkside Adding Flag Football, Marymount to Compete in ECAC
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside will add a varsity women's flag football team and begin competing in the 2026-27 academic year. The school is adding the sport a month after receiving a $1 million gift from the Brookwood Foundation. UW-Parkside also plans to announce the program's first head coach in the coming weeks.
UW-Parkside is the third member of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) to add the sport. Purdue University Northwest (IN) will compete in the upcoming 2026 spring season, while Saginaw Valley State University (MI) will compete for the first time in the 2026-27 academic year.
8 schools in Wisconsin have announced the addition of flag football. Bryant & Stratton College in Milwaukee (NJCAA), Lakeland University (NCAA D-III), Marian University (D-III), the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (D-III), and the University of Wisconsin-Stout (D-III) will compete in spring 2026 and be joined by Beloit College (D-III), Ripon College (D-III), and UW-Parkside in the 2026-27 academic year.
In conference affiliation news, Marymount University (VA) will compete in the newly created Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) during the 2026 spring season. The Saints will continue competing in the NCAA Division III Atlantic East Conference this spring. The ECAC league was formed in partnership with the NFL's New York Jets after a $1 million grant from the Betty Wold Johnson Foundation.
Marymount is the 12th team to announce it will compete in the ECAC's 2026 spring season. Allegheny College (PA), Eastern University (PA), Franciscan University (OH), Kean University (NJ), Long Island University (NY), Mercy University (NY), Mercyhurst University (PA), Montclair State University (NJ), Mount St. Mary's University (MD), Penn State Schuylkill (PA), and Wagner (NY) will also take part in the inaugural campaign.
For spring 2027, Caldwell University (NJ), Dominican University New York, Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ), Sweet Briar College (VA), and Union College (NY) will compete in the ECAC, bringing the league to 17 teams.
Over 245 flag football clubs and varsity programs are expected to compete during the 2025-26 academic year. The number of teams will grow to more than 300 in 2026-27 as over 60 schools across the country have or will announce the addition of flag football. More universities are expected to add flag football in the coming months.
All three NCAA divisions have recommended that flag football be added to the Emerging Sports for Women Program. A vote on those recommendations will take place at the NCAA's convention next week. The NFL is getting closer to the start of a professional flag football league, while the sport will make its Olympic debut in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.