Several North Carolina counties taking steps to grow girls flag football in the state

Aligning schedules and seasons this fall will be the first step towards holding state championships

Girls flag football is growing in the state of North Carolina and now several counties are taking steps to align their schedules to allow for a state playoffs as the sport progresses towards to being officially sanctioned by the NCHSAA. / ERIC HASERT/TCPALM / USA TODAY NETWORK

Girls flag football, just as it has been throughout the country, has been growing in the state of North Carolina. Until now, however, the handful of counties and schools which offer the sport within the state have not been on the same to page with regard to when they conduct their seasons.

Moves are now being made to change this.

Recently, three counties – Wake, New Hanover and Durham – along with several individual schools launched flag football programs. They joined existing programs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Union County and Cabarrus County in offering the sport.

Wake County’s inaugural season was conducted over a four week stretch that spanned the end of January and the beginning of February with multi-team Saturday events. Cardinal Gibbons, a private high school, also played with the Wake County public schools. New Hanover followed a similar format, but played later in the spring season, while Durham’s first attempt at the sport was limited to a one-day jamboree in June. Vance County and Louisburg high schools played in the Durham County event.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg also played its season in the spring, while Union and Cabarrus counties played in the fall.

In the fall of 2025, Wake County’s flag football season will move to the fall, beginning with tryouts in late September and culminating with playoffs and unofficial state championship games in December. All 25 Wake County schools are expected to field teams. Several of the other school districts currently offering the sport have pledged follow a similar schedule, while new programs are planned for the fall in Johnston, Guilford and Forsyth counties. Although not all schools in these counties will field teams, the ones that do plan to participate in the planned state playoffs.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg, however, plans to continue to play in the spring, at least for the coming year. The same is true of some individual schools.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) has not yet sanctioned girls flag football as an official sport, but these steps towards most participating schools into the same season is helpful to moving in that direction.

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-- Gary Adornato | gary@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports