Girls Flag Football Hit 102,360 Players. Nordonia Won Ohio’s First Title 20-19.

Girls high school flag football reached 102,360 players. On October 1, 2026, the NFHS participation release put the 2025-26 count there, up 48.7 percent from 68,847 the year before. Four years earlier, the same survey’s first post-pandemic count was 15,716.

The local version of that growth already has a score. On May 16, 2026, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Macedonia Nordonia beat Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame 20-19 for Ohio’s first girls flag football state title. The OHSAA tournament page lists the final, the semifinals, and the quarterfinals.

Schools moved with the players. The NFHS said girls flag was offered at 3,990 schools, up from 2,736, and that it cracked the top 10 girls sports. The same release said 37 states will be sanctioning the sport or running an independent or pilot program by the next school year. A Cleveland flag football Saturday is one field inside that count. It still needs a kickoff.

How many girls play high school flag football?

102,360 in the NFHS 2025-26 survey, released October 1, 2026. That is a top-10 girls sport for the first time in that release.

The year-before figure, 68,847, is the one in the September 9, 2025 NFHS story. The newer count is the next survey. Total high school sports participation in 2025-26 was 8,415,684, up 149,440. Girls accounted for 114,993 of that increase, a 3.2 percent rise, and the NFHS led the story with flag football and wrestling. Girls flag’s one-year jump was 33,513 players. Those players arrive at parks that already had a Saturday. A Columbus flag football director adding a second girls division is looking at a field map, not a press release.

How fast did girls flag football grow?

From 15,716 girls in 2021-22 to 102,360 in 2025-26. The NFHS described that as an increase of about 87,000 players in four years.

The school count rose by 1,254 in a single year, from 2,736 to 3,990. The same summary ranks the girls sports ahead of flag: outdoor track and field 509,070, volleyball 502,056, soccer 390,658, basketball 362,382, fastpitch softball 331,162, competitive spirit 254,379, tennis 203,927, cross country 192,813, and swimming and diving 130,800. Flag at 102,360 is tenth, and it is the line that moved into that list. Eleven-player football remains the largest sport in the survey at 1,043,716, after a 1.4 percent increase of 14,128 players. Flag’s girls count grew 48.7 percent in the same year. The same release separates flag from the other football codes. Girls in 11-, 9-, 8-, and 6-player football totaled 4,334. Girls flag totaled 102,360. Counting 11-player with the small-sided games, overall high school football reached 1,081,241, up 11,597. Flag is the girls football number that entered the top 10. A rec director can hold both facts. Tackle still fills Friday. Flag is the sport adding Saturday teams. A league that adds a girls division because the high school did should give that division a field of its own. A gain of 1,254 schools is new teams, new Saturdays, and new parents who have never used the park’s gate. The earlier flag growth piece covers the youth and Olympic side of the same sport. This count is the high school line. Chicago flag football, Dallas flag football, and Houston flag football leagues feel the school boom when spring tryouts and fall rec registration overlap.

Who won Ohio’s first girls flag football title?

Macedonia Nordonia, 20-19 over Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, on May 16, 2026, in Canton.

• Quarterfinals, noon: Mount Notre Dame 26, Madison 20. Midview 15, Princeton 14. Berkshire 38, St. Ursula 18. Nordonia 6, Badin 0.
• Semifinals, 1 p.m.: Mount Notre Dame 21, Midview 19. Nordonia 38, Berkshire 20.
• Championship, 2:30 p.m.: Nordonia 20, Mount Notre Dame 19.

Eight teams, one stadium, admission free. Northeast seeds and southwest seeds shared Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium the way a rec complex shares one parking lot. Nordonia’s path was a 6-0 quarterfinal, a 38-20 semifinal, and a one-point final. The Cleveland Browns’ account says OHSAA approved a state championship in July 2025 and that Ohio was the 17th state to sanction girls flag. A Cincinnati flag football family driving to a Saturday game should get a field number as specific as that 2:30 kickoff.

How many Ohio schools added a girls flag team?

The Browns reported 160 Ohio high schools fielded a girls flag team in 2026, up from six Northeast Ohio schools in 2021.

The same report says Northeast Ohio grew from those six schools in 2021 to 120 in 2026, with more than 61 new high schools in the spring 2026 season. Nordonia was one of the original six at a 2021 jamboree, then joined the Browns division in 2025 after a summer league. Its state-final afternoon was three games at three times: 6-0 at noon, 38-20 at 1 p.m., and 20-19 at 2:30. Mount Notre Dame’s path was 26-20, then 21-19, then 19 points in the final. Eight programs and three start times shared one address. Midview’s quarterfinal was 15-14, and Mount Notre Dame’s semifinal was 21-19, so three of the seven games finished by one score. Five years from a jamboree to a championship is the timeline a rec director should plan for. The exhibition team this spring can be a full division next spring. Six to 160 is the state version of a rec league that outgrows one text thread. A Canton flag football park that hosted the state final on a Saturday still has its own youth games the next weekend. Publish those games with a field, the way the OHSAA published noon, 1 p.m., and 2:30.

What does 3,990 schools mean for a Saturday field?

It means the next team is likely, and the field it plays on has to be named before registration closes.

The NFHS said 37 states will sanction girls flag or run a pilot by the following year. Each new school team pulls little sisters, brothers, and parents into rec flag the next season. Put the new age group in the league dashboard as its own line: field, kickoff, roster. A Miami flag football complex and an Orlando flag football complex already know what a full Saturday looks like. The first Saturday is when a family uses last year’s pin if this year’s team was tucked into an old group text.

How does Ohio’s first title sit next to Florida’s 447 teams?

Florida already had 447 girls flag teams entering 2025. Ohio played its first state final in 2026. Both numbers are real, and they are different years.

The Florida count used the 2024-25 NFHS figure of 68,847 and a state team list of 447. This post uses the next survey, 102,360, and Ohio’s first championship bracket. A director in Atlanta flag football or Phoenix flag football should cite the year with the number. The operational fact is the same in both states: a new team needs a field that last year’s champion does not already own.

Which cities should treat 102,360 as a schedule problem?

Any city whose park already hosts flag on Saturday and is being asked for another age group.

Canton had seven state-tournament games in one afternoon. Cleveland’s region sent Madison, Midview, Berkshire, and Nordonia. Cincinnati’s region sent Mount Notre Dame, Princeton, St. Ursula, and Badin. A rec league in Cleveland can have the same overlap the next Saturday: two divisions, one lot, two kickoffs. New York flag football parks are in a state the NFHS listed among the largest participation markets. The permit reserves Field 3. The 102,360 is the roster total.

What should a director check before adding another flag team?

The new team needs a field and a start. A participation record does not assign the grass.

• Every age group has a field number, plus the name of the complex.
• A new girls team gets its own kickoff, separate from last fall’s boys game.
• The gate matches the field, so the family is using this season’s pin.
• Coaches and parents see the same assignment.
• A two-child household can tell which whistle is which.
• If you cite demand, cite the source: NFHS for 102,360, OHSAA for 20-19.

Nordonia’s title was a 20-19 final in a sport that had 15,716 high school girls four surveys earlier. The state wrote the score down. A rec league can write the field down. Brands that want to be at that field can sponsor a game. Directors can request a demo. Coaches Pick stays free for league owners, including the home page families already use to find a league.