Women's Flag Football Becomes NAIA Championship Sport

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and its National Administrative Council (NAC) have approved women's flag football as a championship sport beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The NAIA is the first collegiate governing body to add women's flag football as a championship sport. Flag football was an emerging sport from 2021 through 2025 and an invitational sport for the 2026 spring season.

The NAIA was the first collegiate governing body to organize flag football in 2021. Ottawa University (KS) won the first five NAIA women's flag football titles from 2021 through 2025. The first two conferences were the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) and the Sun Conference. The NAIA elevated women's flag football to an invitational sport for the 2025-26 academic year.

For the 2026 spring season, more than 30 teams competed, and the Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC) began sponsoring women's flag football as the NAIA's third conference. The season-ending invitational featured 8 teams, with 4 automatic qualification bids and 4 at-large selections. Warner University (FL) won the first and only invitational event this past spring, breaking Ottawa's five-year hold on the NAIA title.

The growth in the NAIA has led to two additional conferences sponsoring women's flag football for the first time in the 2027 season: the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) and the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC). The NAIA is set to have more than 60 schools compete in the 2026-27 academic year, including over 25 new programs.

The NAIA's first championship will be held in the spring of 2027, with the qualification criteria, format, and location to be announced at a later date. Below is a table showing the NAIA's women's flag football champions since the first season in 2021.