NCAA Announcement Here
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. –  Flag football has been added to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program after representatives from all three divisions approved the recommendation last week at the 2026 NCAA Convention in the Washington, D.C., area.
 
Slippery Rock announced last semester that the University would be adding women's flag football with plans to begin competition in the 2027-28 academic year, putting The Rock ahead of the announcement from the NCAA Convention.
 
"This is great news for female student-athletes and for our University," said Roberta Page, SRU director of athletics. "SRU was at the forefront of this decision and with the NCAA adding the sport to the emerging sports program, it paves the way to creating an NCAA National Championship event. Ultimately, this will create more opportunities for female student-athletes on our campus and across the nation to have the chance to compete and experience all that collegiate athletics offers."
 
Flag football has been one of the fastest-growing sports in the country at the youth, high school and collegiate levels. The sport's momentum includes being added as a sport for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
 
"Welcoming women's flag football into the Emerging Sports for Women is a meaningful step toward expanding access, equity and opportunity," said Jacqie McWilliams, commissioner of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and chair of the NCAA Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact. "This sport has already sparked passion nationwide, and now countless young women will see a path that once didn't exist. We celebrate the programs leading the way and look forward to the transformative impact they will have on the future of collegiate athletics."
 
The Emerging Sports for Women program is intended to help schools provide more athletics opportunities for women and more sport-sponsorship options for schools, while helping that sport achieve NCAA championship status.
 
Once in the Emerging Sports for Women program, a sport must have a minimum of 40 schools sponsoring the sport at the varsity level and meet minimum contest and participation requirements to be considered for NCAA championship status. Flag football's immediate addition to the program means schools sponsoring the sport in the 2026 spring season can count toward the 40-school threshold required to establish a National Collegiate Championship if they meet minimum requirements. As of summer 2025, NCAA sports sponsorship data showed that at least 40 NCAA schools planned to sponsor flag football at the varsity level in the 2025-26 academic year. Additional tracking from sport leaders anticipates as many as 60 schools could participate in spring 2026. The NCAA expects sponsorship to continue to increase.
 
Slippery Rock plans to hire a coach in 2026 and give that coach one year to recruit and launch the program in 2026-27 before beginning competition in the 2027-28 academic year.
 
More information regarding the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program and the inclusion of flag football in the program is available HERE.
 
 
 

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