PIAA sanctions high school girls flag football
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association voted Wednesday, Sept. 18, to add high school girls flag football to its index of sanctioned sports.
The announcement comes after the organization’s board of directors meeting in Mechanicsburg on Wednesday afternoon. It was the third and final vote needed to complete the PIAA’s emerging sport process.
The sponsorship will begin in the 2025-26 school year. It is the second girls sport in two years to be approved, following wrestling last spring.
“We’re thrilled that we can offer another opportunity for girls to participate interscholastic athletics,” PIAA president Frank Majikes said in a statement. “In recognizing the National Federation of High School Associations, we will be initiating development of a girls’ flag football rules book in January 2025. This will allow us to develop our process to host a championship. ... The PIAA thanks the National Football League, Eagles, and Steelers for their support and efforts for girls’ flag football.”
Two high schools in Butler County currently have girls flag football programs, North Catholic and Seneca Valley. Both were included in the 36 teams that took part in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ league this past spring. The Philadelphia Eagles’ league had 65 teams, helping the game reach the 100-school threshold needed for sanctioning.
“I think it’s going to bring the sport together and really grow it because we’re going to have consistency,” said Seneca Valley coach Chris Eden. “I think any time you have consistency, you’re going to have success.”
Eden has overseen the Raiders’ program for the past two years.
“It’s grown tremendously,” Eden said. “I know a couple years ago, it started out with a couple teams. This past spring, we had (almost) 40 teams in our league, so obviously the interest is growing, the level of competitiveness is growing. ... I think this is a sport that’s going to absolutely take off.
“The girls just want to play, just like the guys.”
Eden and Seneca Valley will use the gap to prepare for competition under the PIAA’s guidance in the spring of 2026.
“For us as a program, we’re so young,” Eden said. “So it’s just going to be an opportunity for us to grow and get our schemes installed, rep what we do and get ready like the guys do. Every week with the guys, we have scouting reports and little things like that — and we’ll be doing the same thing.”
He views Seneca Valley’s girls flag football program as a model for other schools in the county to follow if they decide to begin a program of their own.
“I hope that people kind of take a look at the framework that we have,” Eden said. “In just a year and a half, we’ve had about 75 kids express interest. We played with 47 last year. I think our numbers are only going to grow. ... I hope everyone jumps on board because I think that it’s going to be absolutely tremendous.”
