FOND DU LAC – Marian University Athletics is proud to announce the addition of flag football as its 26th sponsored sport.
"We are thrilled to continue the growth of Sabre Athletics with the addition of flag football," said Director of Athletics Tony Draves. "This addition positions ourselves to better serve our current and incoming student base with a new, unique offering. Being one of the fastest growing sports, we are excited to be an early sponsor for flag football and continue the momentum for the sport. We expect a lot of excitement around this addition throughout the community."
Flag football is a form of football that has players wear flags around a belt that are pulled off rather than traditional tackling. The uniqueness of flag football allows players of various sizes, ages, and genders a new opportunity to compete in football. The non-contact sport has become one of the fastest growing sports in large part to its safe and inclusive nature. It also does not require the purchase of expensive equipment that is associated with tackle football.
The International Olympic Committee announced in October 2023 that flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, only fueling the growth of the sport.
At the collegiate level, there are at least 30 institutions that sponsor flag football with Marian joining schools in the Midwest such as Rockford, Benedictine, and Illinois Wesleyan. Two NCAA Division III conferences have already announced the addition of the sport in the United East Conference and Atlantic East Conference. Marian University becomes the first four-year institution in the state of Wisconsin to add flag football, and joins Bryant & Stratton, National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA), as the only schools in Wisconsin that offer the sport.
The NJCAA sponsors flag football and had its first full season of competition in 2022 The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) also sponsors flag football as an official sport and had its first full season in 2021.
Currently, there are at least 13 states that offer flag football as a high school sport with another 15 that are in various stages of pilot programs, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), including Wisconsin. According to the NFHS, in 2023, approximately 500,000 girls from the ages of 6-17 competed in flag football, marking a 63 percent increase since 2019.
The National Football League (NFL) has played a large role in the growth of flag football as well with the creation of NFL Flag. NFL Flag offers athletes from ages 4 to 17 a chance to play flag football. The NFL Flag program currently includes more than 1,600 teams featuring more than 600,000 athletes across the nation.
"The addition of flag football to an already powerful Marian Athletics lineup provides a unique opportunity to attract more students," said Marian University President Aaron Sadoff. "We think it will create a lot of excitement and a whole new fan base in our community."
A national search to find a head coach for Marian flag football will commence immediately. The first season of Sabre flag football is slated for the spring of 2026.
