Girls flag football kicks off as official sport in North Carolina on Wednesday
Wednesday is a historic day for N.C. high school athletics.
In the spring, the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors voted, 9-8, to add girls’ flag football as an officially sanctioned sport. The board also voted to sanction boys’ volleyball.
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That elevated both popular sports from the club level in the state and will award them with playoffs and a state championship.
“We get 30-something years in our field,” board member Bryan Tyson said in defense of adding girls’ flag football this year and not waiting any longer. “These high school girls get four.”
Boys’ volleyball will start in February. Girls’ flag football starts Wednesday, with games throughout North Carolina.
More than 100,000 girls, in 40 states, are playing the sport nationwide, according to the National Federation of High Schools. Nearly 4,000 schools offer the sport and girls’ flag football is sanctioned in more than 20 states as of the 2025-26 school year, including in California, Florida and New York.
The Carolina Panthers helped kick-start the sport in North Carolina, starting with a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools league several years ago. That league culminated with a big final day at Bank of America Stadium.
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During its spring meeting, an NCHSAA committee reported to the board that 135 teams were playing flag football in the state last spring. That is about 30 percent of the membership.
And now it’s time for the girls to officially take the field. The regular-season will run to late October. The playoffs begin on Halloween and the state finals are Nov. 14.
“I think this is a huge deal,” said Chris Hughes, a co-host of The Observer’s Talking Preps streaming show and a longtime N.C. high school football expert. “I think 5-10 years from now, we’ll look back and say, ‘Man, we witnessed the beginning of something really special.’ For years, we’ve watched the men do it on Friday nights on the gridiron. And to give a crop of females the opportunity to compete for their school, I’m excited about the potential of what this can be for them.”
We’ve got Charlotte, Raleigh and statewide schedules. Be sure to come back Wednesday night for live scores.
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