Girls flag football could become the next high school sport sanctioned by KSHSAA

TOPEKA — Girls flag football could be the latest sport sanctioned by KSHSAA. The fast-growing sport is making waves at the college level and it will even be in the next Summer Olympic Games.

Here’s everything on girls flag football in Kansas.

Girls flag football may become newest sanctioned KSHSAA sport

The Kansas State High School Activities Association will be holding its Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, April 23. One of the items to be discussed is the sanctioning of girls flag football.

“When it comes to any potential new activity, the Activities Association is open to what our schools want to do,” KSHSAA’s Assistant Executive Director Jeremy Holaday said. “This seems to be the next activity that they are curious about and we will certainly find out Thursday if that’s something that we will have to start planning for.”

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For the agenda item to pass, it needs a simple majority at the board of directors meeting. If it is to pass, at least 24 schools must compete for KSHSAA to host championship activities.

The minimum school requirement should not be an issue, with at least 29 teams playing in last year's club season in Kansas.

Girls flag football has been playing as a club sport since 2021. The popularity of the sport has grown so much that  Wichita Public Schools Athletic Director Chris Asmussen is hoping for KSHSAA to sanction the sport.

“Legitimization,” he said. "We see that there's a definite need for this, not just in our area, but in our state.”

Interest in flag football blossoming

Asmussen represents the Greater Wichita Athletic League for the KSHSAA Board of Directors. He submitted the agenda item to officially sanction girls flag football. He’s seen the explosion of the sport firsthand in Wichita.

The Kansas City Chiefs have been an instrumental part of the sport’s success, too. They have helped fund the club league with jerseys, equipment and officials.

“The Chiefs put in some more money for it so that we could make our own league to play in the regular season,” Asmussen said.

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Action from Westmoreland and Syracuse West’s 12-12 draw at Westmoreland High School on Thursday, April 16, 2026.

Last fall, there was a Wichita League featuring the city public schools along with Maize and Maize South. There was another league in the Kansas City metro featuring schools in surrounding areas, including Lawrence Free State.

Free State reached the semifinals of the state tournament, a 16-team bracket that saw Mill Valley win the championship. Head coach Adam Barmann explained that the entire season was a joy and it wasn't hard to convince players to join the team.

This is because flag football allows success for a variety of athletes. Just like in tackle football, offensive linemen, wide receivers and punters are not the same type of athlete. It’s extremely similar in flag football.

“It's provided opportunities for these girls who otherwise probably wouldn't play anything,” Barmann said. "And what we know about the game of football is there's really a spot for everybody. When you look at a football roster, it's comprised of all different kinds of skill sets, and there's really a spot for almost everybody.”

Free State’s roster featured 30 players. As the season went along, interest started to gather in the halls of the school. More and more athletes are going to join Barmann’s roster next year, he said.

“We are planning on having upwards of 50 kids,” he said. “We will have a varsity and a junior varsity.”

Flag football being a no-cut sport appealing to many

Just like tackle football, girls flag football is a no-cut sport. It’s another avenue for young athletes to be involved in an extracurricular activity.

After cuts are made in other sports, Barmann said he’s reached out to coaches in his school, saying he would love to have those players on his flag football team. He said around 20 girls were cut from the volleyball team, and many of them have made great players for his team.

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Farmington hosted the P-CEP Prowlers for a Michigan Girls High School Flag Football League scrimmage on Sunday, April 19, 2026.

“It’s a place that kids can find a home,” Barmann said. “We’ve got a lot of stories where kids weren’t probably going to have an opportunity to play their sport, but because of flag football, they have a chance.”

For the proponents of flag football, this is their crusade. The opportunities for more extracurricular activities are never a bad thing. Flag football, a fall sport, will be played during the same time as volleyball, tennis and golf.

These are very niche sports where years of hard work are needed to thrive at the varsity level. Club success in volleyball is often warranted for high school athletes. Cross country is another no-cut option for high school girls, but distance running isn’t for everyone.

Flag football fills this need.

“I am not about limiting kids,” Asmussen said.

The case against sanctioning flag football

With anything new, there will be detractors and doubters.

The case against sanctioning flag football comes down to time and space.

First, space is an easy problem to overcome, according to Asmussen and Barmann. During the fall, tackle football will use its field, and soccer will next have the next priority.

Flag football-sized fields are 80 yards long and 40 yards wide. This is much smaller than tackle football-sized fields that are 120 yards long and 53 yards wide.

Finding space on a high school campus is easier than many assume. Baseball and softball outfields have become regular practice facilities for many teams, especially during the offseason.

“It can actually be used inside a gym, too,” Asmussen said. “Everyone thinks that flag football is just throwing the ball everywhere. But, most of the teams that win in flag football, they are running the ball.”

Finding administrators and other school officials to work another sport is another problem. Flag football has been played on Wednesdays for the past few years. This is because varsity tackles football games are on Fridays and freshman and junior varsity games are played on Mondays and Thursdays.

Antonya King of Syracuse West catches a pass at Westmoreland High School on Thursday, April 16, 2026.

According to Asmussen, this issue shouldn’t limit students.

“I don’t want an adult problem to limit kids,” he said. “For small schools, I get it, they have smaller staffs. But, you don’t have to add it.”

Barmann does not see this as a problem; it's a part of the job. He's here to help students succeed and if he can do that by coaching this sport in the fall, his mission as a teacher is a success.

“We want it to pass,” Barmann said. “If it makes our jobs a little more difficult as administrators, and we've got to think outside the box a little bit more and get a little more creative, and so be it, right?”

Even if schools will not field a flag football team, Barmann and Asmussen both want the schools to vote yes to sanction the sport. There are many schools ready to support flag football.

“I would still vote yes on it, so that I could allow the places that do play flag football, have the ability,” Asumssen said. “Just because it doesn’t work for my school, it shouldn't take away from all kids in the state of Kansas.”

Shawnee County's interest in infancy stages

The Capital-Journal reached out to Shawnee County high school administrators to gauge interest in flag football. Washburn Rural, Seaman, Rossville and Silver Lake responded that there hasn’t been much interest in the sport yet.

According to Shawnee Heights football head coach Jason Swift, students have spoken to him expressing an interest in playing. Topeka Public Schools are also looking to move forward with the sport if it is to be sanctioned.

“We do have interest among our TPS High Schools in offering girls flag football,” District athletic director Dustin Dick said. “As a district, we would have several logistical items to work through in order to potentially make this happen next school year, but it may be possible.”

Hayden did respond to comment for this story.

Flag football has started to take root at the youth level in Shawnee County. The Sunflower Sports Association offers the sport for both boys and girls.

Hummer Sports Park may hold girls flag football games in the future. Topeka Public Schools have an interest in supporting the sport if it becomes a KSHSAA sanctioned sport on Thursday, April 23.

Kansas has become college flag football's premier destination

Asmussen explained that sanctioning flag football would have a major impact on college scholarships, too. The possibility of excelling at a sport that has scholarship implications could help many families in Kansas.

“With the NAIA starting flag football, it gives our girls another opportunity to go to school and get it paid for,” Asmussen said. “Any chance that we can get kids to the next level and get them money for school, we want to help them out. We think this is an avenue for them.”

The best part is that Kansas is already a hotbed for college flag football.

In 2021, the NAIA launched women's flag football and it has skyrocketed in popularity. Over 30 teams in the association participate in the sport. Kansas has become one of the powerhouses at the national level.

Ottawa has won five straight national titles. The KCAC continues to be the top conference in the NAIA. Along with Ottawa, Kansas Wesleyan and Baker are all ranked inside the top five in the nation.

“How the game has grown has been insane,” Baker head coach Willy Perez said. “The opportunity to give young athletes the chance to play a collegiate sport, it’s all about opportunity for these young ladies.”

Perez’s roster holds 21 players with hometowns outside of the Midwest. He tries his hardest to have a few players each year from Kansas or Missouri. He explained that KSHSAA sanctioning flag football would be vastly important to recruiting locally and keeping Kansas athletes home.

The ball slips through USC sophomore Kyla Moore's (3) hands as they play Arizona State in the Fiesta Bowl Classic women's flag football quarterfinals on April 19, 2026, in Tempe.

“It’s a reason why I am so for it,” Perez said. “Yes, my roster is 95% from Florida, and it’s because high school flag has been played since 2006. We are trying to get that to this level here in Kansas.”

Earlier this spring, the NCAA adopted women's flag football as an emerging sport, which means it is one step away from being a championship sport. The University of Nebraska also announced it would add flag football, the first Power Four school to make this announcement.

All of this coincides with flag football making its debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. It will feature both women's and men's competitions.

From the Olympics to college, flag football is everywhere. On Thursday, girls flag football may become a sanctioned sport in Kansas, too.

Liam Keating covers high school sports and Washburn University for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Is girls flag football KSHSAA's next sanctioned high school sport?