Oregon high schoolers who play flag football no longer have to settle for emerging-activity status. The Oregon School Activities Association's Delegate Assembly voted on Oct. 12 to make girls' flag football a fully sanctioned sport, with the first official season set to kick off in spring 2027 — a milestone that arrives just months after Tualatin's team carpooled its way to a state championship.
From Carpools to a Sanctioned Season
Before sanctioning, Tualatin's girls' flag football team competed as what the KATU report described as an OSAA emerging activity, with players arranging their own carpools to get to games rather than relying on team transportation. That changes under the new vote, which makes Oregon the 25th state to sanction the sport, according to the OSAA. The organization says sanctioning means an official rulebook will be distributed, the OSAA will govern playoff assignments, and a director will be assigned to the sport at the state level, per USA Today.
Tualatin's players, according to KATU, expect more bus transportation and more funding for their program once the sanctioned season begins. The team enters that new chapter as reigning state champions: Tualatin defeated South Salem 32-26 to claim the OSAA's culminating event title, the OSAA reports, and the squad went on to win the 2026 Best of the PNW Tournament hosted by the Seahawks in June.
A Rapid Rise in School Participation
Oregon's sanctioning vote didn't happen overnight. Participation grew from 32 schools in 2024 to 47 the following year and 58 this year, the OSAA notes, surpassing the 50-school threshold required to trigger a sanctioning vote. Fifty-seven varsity teams competed in the preceding spring, with more than 1,400 participants statewide, according to the same OSAA report. OPB similarly found that nearly 60 Oregon high school teams competed this past spring, compared with 32 teams in 2024.
Tualatin coach Bubba Lemon told OPB that the national growth behind that surge has been dramatic, saying football was once taboo for girls but that girls can now own and participate in it. Lemon cited a nationwide estimate of about 104,000 high school girls playing flag football last year, up from roughly 15,000 four years earlier. A separate figure reported by High School Football America, drawing on NFHS data, put 2025-26 national participation at 102,360, up from 68,847 the prior season — a 48.7% increase that pushed the sport into the Top 10 for girls nationally. Axios likewise reported that national participation topped 102,000 in 2025-26, a 551% increase over four years.
Nike and the Seahawks Step In
The sanctioning push came with corporate muscle behind it. The Seattle Seahawks donated $30,000 to expand girls' flag football opportunities across Oregon and provided equipment to help schools launch programs, the OSAA says. Nike, meanwhile, pledged to provide home and away jerseys for all Oregon varsity teams competing in the inaugural season, as well as for schools that add the sport during its first three sanctioned seasons.
USA Today reports that Oregon was one of eight states to cross the sanctioning threshold this year alone, and that more than 60 Oregon schools expressed interest in the sport in a recent survey. With Oregon now on board, the outlet reports the Seahawks are turning their attention to Idaho as their next sanctioning target.
On the Field, It Looks Like Football
Tualatin's program runs real route trees and play designs, not a watered-down version of the game, according to KATU. Player Sydney Murdick said she grew up playing football with her father, who played in college, and said the sport shows that women can take part in the same game as men. Teammate Paige Estes said her own path began with watching her brother play as a child before she got involved in flag football herself. Tualatin flag football player Brianna Kaer has encouraged players to accept mistakes as they learn a still-new sport, KATU reported.
Part of a Bigger National Shift
Oregon's move reflects a broader national trend. Axios reported that just 12 states sanctioned girls' flag football in 2024, a number that had grown to 23 states plus Washington, D.C. by September 2026, with 3,990 schools reporting participants that season. NFHS data projected that by the 2026-27 school year, 37 states were expected to either sanction the sport or run independent or pilot programs. At the college level, Axios reports at least 40 NCAA schools already offer flag football as a varsity sport, and the game is scheduled to make its Olympic debut in 2028.
