North Carolina’s NCHSAA officially sanctions girls flag football

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The list continues to grow when it comes to states that are sanctioning girls flag football as a high school state championship sport. On Wednesday, another state officially approved girls flag football.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) became the 22nd state in the country to sanction girls flag football as a state championship sport.

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The vote to approve girls flag football comes on Day 2 of annual board meetings for the NCHSAA, as they voted on numerous sports for approval. It was a narrow vote, however, with the motion passing 9-8 by the NCHSAA Board of Directors.

Most recent state association to approve girls flag football as a state championship sport was the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), making the Garden State the 21st to do so.

Over a week ago, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) and District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCSAA) each announced that they had approved girls flag football as a sanctioned state championship sport.

Another state that recently announced the addition of the sport was Kansas, which approved girls flag football, becoming the 18th state to sanction the sport with Maryland being the 19th and District of Columbia as the 20th, respectively.

With the addition of North Carolina, below is the full updated list of the now 22 states around the United States that officially sanction girls flag football as a high school state championship sport:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Illinois
Kansas
Maryland
Mississippi
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Washington

Participation has seen major increases, jumping to nearly 69,000 participants in the 2024-25 school year, per NFHS Network data, and it’s rapidly emerging as an official varsity sport in numerous states.

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