ETBU adding Women’s Flag Football as 24th collegiate sport for Tigers

Published 5:27 pm Sunday, August 3, 2025

MARSHALL, Texas—East Texas Baptist University has announced the addition of women’s flag football to its athletic department sports offerings, beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. In conjunction with the American Southwest Conference, all six ASC member institutions will sponsor women’s flag football as a sport, and conference play will begin as soon as permitted by the NCAA. With this new addition, ETBU will provide 24 athletic programs for student-athletes, with 13 for female student-athletes.

“We are thrilled to bring women’s flag football to ETBU and add to our varsity sports lineup. At ETBU we are committed to expanding opportunities for female student-athletes and supporting the growth of one of the fastest-rising sports in the nation. We’re excited to be part of shaping the future of women’s flag football at the NCAA level,” , Senior Vice President for Campus Life Ryan Erwin said. “We are in the process of identifying a head women’s flag football coach that is committed Christian, who desires to use athletics to impact the lives of student-athletes in a Christ-centered environment.”

Women’s flag football will be ETBU’s ninth new sport in the past eight years, having added men’s and women’s golf, acrobatics and tumbling, beach volleyball, bass fishing, two ACHA hockey programs, and men’s lacrosse. Flag football will join basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball as a women’s varsity sport within the American Southwest Conference. In the 2026-27 academic year, the ASC will be comprised of East Texas Baptist University, Hardin-Simmons University, Howard Payne University, McMurry University, Schreiner University, and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics recommended that all three NCAA divisions sponsor legislation to add flag football to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program earlier this year. The vote to add flag football to the program will occur at the NCAA Convention in January 2026. Once in the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, flag football must have a minimum of 40 total schools across all divisions sponsoring the sport at the varsity level and meet the minimum contest and participation requirements to be considered for NCAA championship status.

“We are excited about the addition of flag football and the opportunities it provides female student-athletes in the American Southwest Conference,” ASC Commissioner David Flores said. “We are looking forward to growing the sport as a conference and recognizing more ASC champions.”

Flag football is a non-contact sport that combines the strategy and excitement of traditional football. It is played with seven players on each side of an 80-yard field. The average roster size is approximately 25 players and most teams compete in the spring semester.

Women’s flag football is rapidly expanding nationwide, providing more opportunities for women in intercollegiate athletics. The National Football League is also sponsoring it and has been added as a sport for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Flag Football has seen a 63% increase in participation among young women over the last five years, with more than 500,000 athletes now playing before college.