Women’s flag football is having a banner year in North Carolina, with high school and college programs launching all over the state, including at UNC Asheville and Mars Hill University.
This spring, Mars Hill University competed in the inaugural season of Conference Carolinas women’s flag football. And UNC Asheville is now training for its first women’s flag football club team for the 2026-27 school year.
Meanwhile, a new league from the YMCA aims to give younger girls their own entry point into the growing sport.
This week, the YMCA of Western North Carolina announced the launch of a new NFL FLAG league for high school girls that will begin play in September.
Ashley Shores-Bobowski, the executive director of the YMCA of WNC, told BPR that she hopes the league can help grow interest and talent in a sport that’s growing rapidly more popular.
Participation in the YMCA’s existing co-ed flag football program grew 56% between spring 2025 and spring 2026, reaching 230 players in Buncombe County, she said.
The sport also creates opportunities for women who have been “historically excluded” from participating in football, Shores-Bobowski added.
“Football is kind of a cultural powerhouse in the United States,” she said. “And [flag football] is a cool way that you provide access for girls to participate in that. To feel empowered.”
The NFL has played a significant role in growing the sport. In 2022, the Carolina Panthers launched the state’s first pilot program, which has grown to include more than 200 high school teams in the Carolinas.
Earlier this year, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association sanctioned girls flag football as a championship sport, allowing high schools the chance to form teams and officially compete under NCHSAA governance as soon as this fall. The first state championship is set for Nov. 14, 2026.
There are more than a hundred schools that compete in the sport already, according to a 2025 report from the NCHSAA. The report also indicates that more than 150 schools have committed to fielding teams for the 2026–27 season. That includes local high schools North Buncombe and Erwin, which were already building girls flag football programs.
The new YMCA league receives financial support from NFL FLAG for flag belts, footballs, coaching materials, marketing support and access to tournaments. The league also allows the YMCA to use NFL branding on jerseys and promotional materials, an asset that Shores-Bobowski said has been “particularly beneficial.”
League play begins in early September at A.C. Reynolds High School. Registration is open on the YMCA website.
