Women's flag football grows on college campuses, from startup clubs to varsity teams with NFL boost

ROSEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — The flyers started appearing around the Augustana University campus earlier this year, followed by the all-student email blast. A club team was forming for women's flag football, with room for all comers.

Kiley Coyne, an assistant director of admission for the music department who just happens to play on a women's tackle football team in her spare time, eagerly added coaching to her duties at the school of 2,000 undergraduates in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“I remember saying, ‘I just need 10.’ If we can have an offense and a defense, let's go," Coyne said. “Now we have 23 people who've gone out for it.”

With the sport's inclusion in the Summer Olympics lineup for Los Angeles in 2028 serving as the most recent bump, flag football participation by girls has continued to spike across the country. The NFL has been a staunch supporter.

“I think one of the beauties of flag football is how accessible it is,” said Stephanie Kwok, the league's vice president of flag football. “It’s adding to the opportunities for girls to play sports.”

The college level is the natural place for the next surge of growth. Augustana is one of seven NCAA schools fielding a club team this spring in a league launched with $140,000 and logistical support from the Minnesota Vikings. With five institutions in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin, a schedule was arranged for each team to assemble for multiple games at the same site on three Saturdays this month, including a championship tournament this weekend.

When Brooklyn Sturm first arrived on the Augustana campus as a freshman last fall, the former high school volleyball, basketball and softball standout wasn't planning any athletic commitments beyond intramurals.

Now she's a quarterback.

“I thought I needed to focus on academics, but when I got here it felt like a part of me was missing,” said Sturm, whose team made the four-hour drive to Northwestern University in Roseville, Minnesota, for the inaugural round of games on April 6. “If we had this opportunity in high school, I probably would've taken it.”

According to National Federation of High Schools data, 14 states have girls' flag football as a sanctioned sport with 42,955 players nationwide during the 2023-24 school year. That figure doesn’t include club or intramural participation, of course. About half a million girls ages 6 to 17 play the sport in some organized form. In Minnesota, the Vikings helped launch a four-team pilot at the high school club level last spring. This year, there are 51 schools in the league.

More than 100 higher-educational institutions, either in the NCAA, the NAIA or the junior college level, are now offering women’s flag football as a varsity or club sport, according to the NFL. The NAIA was on board first with sanctioned competition that began in 2021. There are 16 schools currently supporting an NCAA varsity program, with at least 20 more teams expected to start in 2026. Earlier this year, the NCAA recommended women’s flag football be designated an emerging sport.

One of the most intriguing developments in Minnesota has been the turnout from women who had never played an organized team sport before.

“Why am I doing this? It’s for those women who’ve never worn a uniform, who've never been part of the school spirit of being part of a team,” said Melissa Lee, an associate athletic director at Augsburg University in Minneapolis who agreed to coach the school's team.

The obvious first question at the first gathering was about previous experience in the sport.

“What's their token answer? We played powderpuff at homecoming our junior and senior year,” said Lee, who had 24 women sign up at the school of about 2,400 undergrads. “That was all it took for me. I said, ‘You’re on the team.'”

Even for the coaches on men's tackle teams who've crossed over this spring to help lead the women's flag startups, there has been a lot to learn.

The standard rules of flag football differ more than simply the absence of tackling, with plenty of variance from league to league and level to level. The fields are half as wide and half as long, and play is typically 5-on-5. The offense has four downs to cross midfield, then another four to score. Punts are verbally declared and not kicked, like an intentional walk in baseball, before the opponent takes possession at its own 5-yard line. The defense can rush the passer, but only from 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Running plays aren’t allowed inside the defense’s 5-yard line. After a touchdown, the scoring team chooses a 1-point conversion play from the 5 or a 2-point play from the 10.

Next season, Coyne said, the hope is to move to 7-on-7 play to increase playing time. Enough schools have expressed interest that the seven-team league could double in size. Then, ideally, varsity status would follow if a sustainable way to fund it can be figured out.

“I just love taking new opportunities,” Sturm said, recalling the surprise by her family members at her initial decision to not play a college sport. “Now that they know I'm getting back into it, they're like, ‘This is you. This is what you're supposed to do.'”

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Augustana University and Concordia University, St. Paul players compete during a women's college flag football game, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

An Augustana University player warms up before a women's college flag football game against Concordia University, St. Paul, Monday, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

University of Wisconsin - Stout players celebrate during a women's college flag football game against University of Northwestern St. Paul, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Augustana University and Concordia University, St. Paul players compete during a women's college flag football game, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Augustana University and Concordia University, St. Paul players compete during a women's college flag football game, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

University of Northwestern St. Paul and University of Wisconsin - Stout players compete during a women's college flag football game, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

University of Northwestern St. Paul and University of Wisconsin - Stout players compete during a women's college flag football game, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Augustana University players huddle before a women's college flag football game against Concordia University, St. Paul, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Augustana University and Concordia University, St. Paul players compete during a women's college flag football game, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Augustana University and Concordia University, St. Paul players compete during a women's college flag football game, April 7, 2025, in St. Paul. Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord found guilty of a vicious hate crime that left a 6-year-old Muslim boy dead and wounded his mother days after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023 was due in court Friday for sentencing.

A jury convicted 73-year-old Joseph Czuba in February of murder and hate crime charges in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi, who was Palestinian American, and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago, in 2023 when the attack happened.

Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.

Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.

“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”

The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict. Czuba is eligible for a minimum prison sentence of 20 to 60 years or life, according to the Will County state's attorney's office.

Prosecutors declined to comment ahead of Friday's hearing and have not said what sentence they will seek. Illinois does not have the death penalty.

The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.

Czuba did not speak during the trial. His defense attorneys argued that there were holes in the case. His public defender, George Lenard, has not addressed reporters and declined comment ahead of the sentencing.

Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.

She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room.

Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.

“He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic though a translator.

Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.

Separately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.

FILE - Joseph Czuba, 71, stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment at the Will County, Ill., courthouse, Oct. 30, 2023, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)