The Las Vegas Raiders announced the launch of Utah’s inaugural girls high school flag football season on Wednesday.
The launch is through a partnership with the Utah High School Girls Football Association. The Raiders hope to help grow the sport of girls flag football and make it a sanctioned varsity high school sport in the state of Utah.
“The Raiders are deeply committed to football development among youth athletes and this partnership with the Utah High School Girls Football Association creates more opportunities for girls to compete, lead and thrive on the field,” Myles Hayes, senior director football development for the Las Vegas Raiders, said in a press release. “We look forward to expanding our impact across Utah through the game of football.”
The inaugural season began the week of Sept. 15 and will consist of six regular-season games and additional playoff games before coming to an end the week of Nov. 3.
As part of the partnership, the Raiders also donated $100,000 worth of Nike gear for the teams’ uniforms, socks and accessories, per the press release.
Darby NeVille, the president of the Utah High School Girls Football Association, talked about the impact the inaugural season will have in the press release.
“The launch of the inaugural girls flag football season is a game-changer for many youth athletes, and we are truly appreciative of the Raiders partnership,” NeVille said. “This partnership gives girls across the state the opportunity to experience the excitement, teamwork and life lessons that flag football offers on and off the field.”
The rise of flag football
The sport of flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. At the games, both men’s and women’s teams will compete, ESPN reported.
The sport has a large international following with 20 million people playing it in over 100 countries, per USA Football, the organization overseeing the U.S. men’s and women’s national flag football teams.
Former BYU and NFL quarterback Steve Young has been a vocal proponent of girls flag football. Young previously coached his daughters’ high school team, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“Seeing the girls included in a sport they’ve always loved but didn’t always have the opportunity to play is a pretty incredible thing,” Young said in a 2023 Instagram post.
The sport became sanctioned in California in 2023.
“Based on data from the National Federation of High School Associations, over 15,000 girls played high school flag football in 2021-2022, which is a 40% increase over three years,” according to a press release from the San Francisco 49ers.
The sport has continued to grow over the last few years with 17 states now having sanctioned girls varsity flag football, per NFL Flag.
