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Although the NC High School Athletic Association did not sanction flag football as a sport for the 2025-26 season, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of interest in it.

The NCHSAA has sent out a survey to all members about girls flag football and their interest in everything from fielding a team to seeing it being sanctioned, according to HighSchoolOT.com. The website reports a survey was sent to each of the NCHSAA’s member schools with an inquiry about whether a team was fielded, the number of athletes, along with previous and future interest.

Northside, Southside and Washington high schools played in the Coastal Big 12 Conference that involved schools from Craven and Pitt counties: Havelock, New Bern and West Craven along with D.H. Conley, J.H. Rose, South Central, North Pitt, Farmville Central and Ayden-Grifton. Northside won the league title over Ayden-Grifton back in December.

HighSchoolOT.com reports the NCHSAA only found 40 other schools playing the sport, most from the Charlotte, Raleigh and Wilmington areas. Some of those schools played flag football during the 2023-24 school year. The Carolina Panthers, which has funded the start of flag football for many schools in the state — including those in Beaufort County — reported 119 schools participating in the sport in 2024-25, playing in the fall between volleyball and basketball season.

Each of the local schools expressed interest in playing the sport again this fall. The NCHSAA could vote on the issue during its spring meeting with the possibility of sanctioning the sport then a possibility, HighSchoolOT.com reports.

The National Federation of State High School Associations passed its first official rules for flag football in January. A rule book was expected to be released later in the school year.

Many colleges are picking up the sport, including those in our state. The University of North Carolina has adopted the sport. It will be played in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.