CIF Makes Flag Football An Official High School Sport

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In a big win for female student-athletes across California, flag football will now be an official sport at the high school level. The California Interscholastic Federation, the statewide body that governs high school athletics, voted unanimously Friday to sanction high school girl's flag football. Much to the excitement of players and families statewide, flag football will kick off in fall 2023. Longtime youth sports coach Letticia Gilmore couldn't be more thrilled about the decision. “To see this happen, another all-girls sport be instituted in CIF is absolutely awesome and incredible,” Gilmore said. As CEO & head coach of Solid Ground Sports Academy, a nonprofit group offering no-cost sports training for kids -- including the all-girls flag football program, She Rocks, Gilmore sees, first-hand, the benefits of athletics – both on and off the field – in all facets of girls' lives. “Developing leadership skills, learning how to work together as a team… parents have seen their daughters more confident, doing well in school,” she explained. Will DeBoard, assistant director for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section, told KCRA 3 that regional interest in flag football has been building for a while and the vote to make it a high school sport was met with praise. “The excitement was kinda through the roof,” DeBoard said. “Pretty much everybody from our schools, our administrators, obviously female athletes, were super excited.” Schools across the state will spend the next several months figuring out scheduling and logistics for the seven-on-seven-player games, according to DeBoard, with play underway as early as August or September. “It wouldn't surprise me, two years from now, to see the Sac-Joaquin Section hosting championships for this as well,” DeBoard said. California is now among a handful of other states that have flag football as part of their high school athletics programs. CIF's sanctioning of the sport allows districts to add it to their budgets. Meanwhile, female flag football supporters like Gilmore are praising female athletes as they take the sport to a new level. “This is not your mother's powder puff football,” she said. “This is not for the faint of heart.” It’s an era when the athletes are breaking through barriers, taking off running, and proving their strength in this sport. “They're not coming to be cute. They're not coming with their hair and their nails done,” Gilmore said with pride. “They're coming with eye black on, headband, cleats and gloves, and ready to get down and dirty and play some football.” ©2023, Hearst Television Inc. on behalf of KCRA-TV. Privacy NoticeCA Notice at CollectionYour CA Privacy Rights/Shine the LightDAA Industry Opt-OutTerms of UseSite Map Your Privacy Choices/(Opt-Out of Sale/Targeted Ads)