The Chicago Bears rolled a dolly stacked with brand-new gear into North Lawndale College Prep on Tuesday, handing the school's girls flag football team fresh cleats, pads, helmets, sports bras and more just hours before the Lady Phoenix opened the postseason. The surprise landed on the same day sectional playoffs kicked off across the state, giving the Lady Phoenix new equipment to break in right as the games that matter most were getting underway.
Bears youth and high school football coordinator Lenny Smith made the presentation at North Lawndale, according to chicago.suntimes.com. Along with the equipment, the Bears and the McCaskey Foundation made a $1,000 donation to the Lady Phoenix program, the outlet reported. As WBEZ Chicago reported, the donated gear also included sweatbands, gloves and flags among other clothing items.
A Playoff Opener With New Gear In Hand
North Lawndale entered the playoffs Tuesday, and the Lady Phoenix were set to face the Christ the King Lady Gladiators at 7 p.m. at De La Salle Institute, per the same report from chicago.suntimes.com. Christ the King came into the matchup off a lopsided 24-2 win over Intrinsic Charter School Downtown Campus High School on Sept. 25, according to MaxPreps. Emily Goodman, quoted in the same North Lawndale story, summed up the mood around the new equipment simply: everybody is happy.
The sectional playoffs that began Tuesday follow the IHSA's 2024 sanctioning of girls flag football as an official State Series sport. According to USA Today, the statewide postseason kicked off Sept. 29. USA Today reported the state championship is set for 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, and the North Lawndale report from chicago.suntimes.com also described the championship game as being held Oct. 17 at Willowbrook High School.
From a City Pilot to a Statewide Movement
Girls flag football's growth in Illinois traces back to a pilot program the Bears launched with Chicago Public Schools, Nike and NFL Flag in 2021. Chicago Public Schools Athletics describes it as the first-ever high school girls flag football league in the state that year. Descriptions of the pilot's original size vary: chicago.suntimes.com reported the Bears and Chicago Public League pilot featured nearly two dozen city teams, while Medill Reports Chicago put the first-year total at 21 teams and, elsewhere, described the program as starting with eight teams.
Whatever the exact starting point, the growth since has been steep. Chicago Public Schools Athletics reported the league expanded to more than 50 teams in 2022, when Rockford and the Western Suburban Conference launched their own first seasons outside the city, and then topped 100 teams across Chicagoland by 2023. The Chicago Public League ran its first postseason tournament in 2021, with the Bears and the league later hosting state championship events at Halas Hall in 2022 and 2023, per the same source.
IHSA Sanctioning Opened the Door Statewide
The IHSA Board of Directors approved girls flag football as an official State Series sport for the 2024 season, according to Chicago Public Schools Athletics. More than 100 schools committed to the inaugural IHSA postseason that year, with nearly 40 more expected to field teams in 2025, the organization reported. IHSA-sanctioned teams now compete across the state each fall.
The surge in Illinois mirrors what's happening nationally. Girls flag football participation topped 102,000 players in the 2025-26 school year, a 551% increase over four years, according to Axios. Axios also reported that the number of states sanctioning the sport as an official varsity offering grew to 23 states plus Washington, D.C. Flag football is scheduled to debut at the 2028 Olympics, Axios noted — a milestone that aligns with Lenny Smith's comment, cited in the North Lawndale report, that women's flag football will be an Olympic sport that year.
Pro Leagues and a Wider Buildout
The momentum extends beyond high schools. The NFL is working on a professional flag football league, and USA Today reported the league is working with TMRW Sports on separate professional circuits for women and men, which one Rams official said are expected to start in 2027. Elsewhere, the North Lawndale report described the NFL's professional flag football push as launching within approximately five years, an estimate that sits alongside, rather than confirming, the more specific 2027 timeline.
The buildout isn't confined to Illinois. In Southern California, a Sept. 26 jamboree hosted by the Los Angeles Rams drew about 140 high school girls flag football teams and roughly 3,500 athletes, according to USA Today's reporting on the sport's rapid growth. Back at North Lawndale, the fresh cleats and pads Lenny Smith handed over were a small piece of that same wave — new gear for a team stepping into a playoff bracket that barely existed five years ago.
