PIAA approves girls’ flag football as sanctioned sport after years of support from Steelers, Eagles

Girls’ flag football is officially a sanctioned sport in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association unanimously approved the sport during a Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday.

Sanctioning can only happen once a governing body sets forward and adopts operational and safety standards. For girls’ flag football, one of the requirements was needing at least 100 participating teams across the state, which happened in April with 65 schools on the eastern side of the state and 36 on the western side.

“We’re thrilled that we can offer another opportunity for girls to participate [in] interscholastic athletics,” said Frank Majikes, PIAA president. “This is the second girls’ sport in two years to be approved.”

The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers have worked together for the last three seasons to grow the game at the youth level, and the efforts were critical to the sport becoming sanctioned.

“We are excited to see such a groundbreaking moment for the future of girls’ flag football,” said Art Rooney II, Steelers president. “It has been great working with the Eagles to accomplish a successful ruling that will now give young girls the chance to compete at a state level. We look forward to seeing how girls’ flag football continues to grow in Pennsylvania and worldwide.”

The Steelers Flag Football League began in 2022 with six schools and has grown each year in terms of participating teams and major events that highlight the sport.

Majikes says a girls’ flag football rule book will be developed starting in January. Any structural changes to the sport won’t be implemented until the 2025-2026 school year.

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