MUKWONAGO, Wis. — Girls flag football is taking over the Badger State.
"It has never been more of an exciting time to be a female football player," said Mukwonago girls flag football head coach Michelle Marschel.
There are currently 58 schools sponsoring girls flag football in Wisconsin.
"I think that it's creating a space that wasn't there, and I think it's creating access and opportunity to the game. Ways that we've never had before," Marschel said.
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A committee has submitted a request to the WIAA for girls flag football to become a sanctioned sport. To find out more, I reached out to Stephanie Hauser, executive director of the WIAA, to talk about the sport sanctioning process.
"Regardless of whether it's an athletic program or a club or an activity, I think that's really important for students to feel like they belong. If the addition of a new sport is a way to do that, I am all for exploring that," Hauser said.
Hauser tells me that girls' flag football is an NFL initiative. Organizations, including the Green Bay Packers, host camps throughout the year for our local teams.
"We couldn't have a heavier hitter behind us. They've just knocked it out of the park, and...it's created the momentum that we're enjoying right now on the cusp of getting sanctioned," Marschel said.
What are the benefits for this sport to be sanctioned? In a statement sent to the WIAA by the flag sanctioning committee, they found that, according to the Women's Sports Foundation, girls are dropping out of sports at twice the rate of boys by the age of 14.
Sanctioning flag football opens up chances to compete. In addition to that, coach Marschel tells me that it will bring consistency: teams playing with the same rules and in the same environment to bring a level playing field across the state.
With support expanding, the question is: will it become a sanctioned sport?
"I do. I think—I don't know if it's going to be right now, but I do think it is an emerging sport across the nation. It is gaining popularity," Hauser said.
Teams are hoping that when it comes to being a sanctioned sport, it's not a matter of if, but when.
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