View top Section 4 girls' flag football athletes starting this season

TL;DR

Girls' flag football is gaining traction in New York, reflecting a broader growth in women's sports. The NFL's investment, particularly from teams like the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills, is driving this transformation.

Key points

Girls' flag football is growing in New York.
The NFL is investing in girls' flag football.
Top programs are in Florida, California, Arizona, and Alabama.
The New York Giants and Buffalo Bills are key contributors.
Binghamton Bearcats women's flag football will debut in 2028.

Mentioned in this story

New York GiantsBuffalo Bills

View top Section 4 girls' flag football athletes starting this season

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The significant transformation that girls’ flag football has undergone, especially amid the broader growth of women’s sports, tells a story that begins with where the attention of sports fans is shifting.

Among a few of the top flag football programs in the country, namely in states such as Florida, California, Arizona and Alabama, New York State has made its way into the conversation regarding the growth of girls’ flag football. Much of that attention, of course, comes courtesy of investments from the National Football League (NFL), specifically from franchises like the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills.

More: Binghamton Bearcats women's flag football will debut in 2028

Flag football has the highest attraction and participation rate among other youth sports as of late, according to a series of surveys conducted by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), which in turn, has sparked the investment of local New York State institutions like Binghamton University and Wagner College, who have added women’s flag football to their list of Division I sports.

Adding another tier to the skill level of girls’ flag football implicitly encourages a new level of competition, and in Section 4, that competition is intensifying.

Of the sixteen teams in Section 4, flag football programs like those of Waverly, Owego, Norwich, Binghamton, Maine-Endwell, Vestal, and Union-Endicott have stood out, and more notably, Susquehanna Valley, whose head coach, Michael Ford, was recognized as the “New York Giants High School Girls Flag Football Coach of the Week” for the Sabers’ 50-0 scoring against opponents in the first week of the 2026 season.

"I think in the next five to 10 years, the schools that are doing this are going to really see the development of players," Ford said regarding the growth of Section 4 programs. "There's opportunities for college flag football that weren't here five years ago, these girls can continue playing with Binghamton University, and it's gonna be an Olympic sport in 2028, so I think there are so many opportunities these girls would have even dreamed of."