EMMITSBURG, Md. (February 13, 2025) – Flag football is moving closer to recognition by the NCAA as an emerging sport. Announced this past Wednesday, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics recommended that Divisions I, II, and III sponsor legislation to add the sport to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women's Program.
 
Mount St. Mary's became the first Division I institution in the Northern United States to sponsor the sport on November 7, 2024. One month later, Sandi James was brought on as the inaugural head coach, and the team signed its first recruit – Urbana's Keira Speikes – in January. Since then, more recruits are finalizing a process to commit to the first-ever Mountaineers team, set to debut in the spring of 2026.
 
According to the release on NCAA.org, per the committee's vote, the recommendation will move through the NCAA governance structures. All three divisions will now have an opportunity to sponsor legislation to move the sport forward. The divisions will review updated statistics, current sports sponsorship numbers, financial considerations, potential timelines and other relevant topics before making a final decision on whether to add flag football to the Emerging Sports program.
 
Once in the program, a sport must have a minimum of 40 schools sponsoring the sport at the varsity level and meet minimum contest and participation requirements (as reflected in the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Database) to be considered for championship status.
 
One of the fastest growing sports in the United States, flag football is now sponsored by 65 schools at the club or varsity level. Mount St. Mary's – among other institutions – is set to join the following year. Over a dozen states sponsor flag football as an interscholastic sport, and the National Football League announced its push for all 50 states to include the sport for high schools during a commercial aired during Super Bowl LIX.
 
Mount St. Mary's will announce their inaugural squad and opening schedule in the coming months.