Girls flag football in California is officially a go: CIF votes 146-0 to add

The CIF Federated Council vote Friday secures the game associated with big hits, helmets and testosterone, now a sanctioned girls game in Golden State

Well, that was emphatic.

Those in California wondering just how popular girls flag football has become, got a clear and present answer Friday from the state's governing high school sports agency. 

The Federated Council of the California Interscholastic Federation voted by a vote of 146-0 to officially sanction the sport. 

That means a form of America's most popular sport, accented with testosterone, pigskin and contact, now is highlighted by females and flags, and will start in the fall. 

Some of the state's 10 sections has already been playing the sport — San Francisco Section has been crowning champions since 2013 — but now every one is on board in California with recent popularity. 

According to the NFHS study, girls flag football in high schools had doubled to 11,000 over the previous decade leading up to 2018-19. The pandemic didn't help numbers, but now they are on the rise again. 

It wasn't until the state's largest section — the nearly 600-member Southern Section — sanctioned it during the fall did many take notice of the sport's surge. The NFL has noticed, with at least 22 teams offering some sort of girls flag football program. 

Seven others states have already sanctioned the sport: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and New York. 

This is from girls flag football game in Florida last season, Lakeside's Sarah Horner (15) dives for flags vs Swainsboro. Photo: Katie Goodale/USA Today Network / Photo by Katie Goodale, USA Today Network

"I don't really think everybody understands how big this thing is going to be," Hawthorne girls flag football coach Corey Thedford told The Los Angeles Times. "I'm going to kind of compare this to the U.S. women's soccer (surge) years ago."

There's a slew of administrative challenges to get the game off the ground, such as field availability, officials, coaches and what season will it be run. 

According to the San Jose Mercury News, sections aren't required to play flag football in the fall, but that's when the CIF will hold regional and state championships. 

The game is seven on seven with four 12-minute quarters with no clock stoppage until the final two minutes of each half. Then, like tackle football, the clock will stop for incomplete passes, change of possession. 

Touchdown are six points and conversions are either one, two or three points, depending on what yard line the scoring team chooses.