Newberry College announced today it will add women's varsity flag football.

The college is currently seeking a dynamic and motivated head coach, and the team will play its first competitive season in the spring of 2026.

"The growth of women's flag football in the college athletics has been impressive to witness, and we want to give young women every opportunity to compete in intercollegiate athletics at Newberry College," said Newberry College Vice President for Athletics Sean Johnson.  "We took steps to grow the sport on campus a year and a half ago by establishing a club team and under the leadership of Kendall Powell, we have witnessed excellent participation which laid the foundation for today's decision."

At the NCAA Convention in January, the NCAA membership will vote whether to add women's flag football as an emerging sport.

Flag football has been one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. At least 65 NCAA schools are sponsoring women's flag football at either the club or varsity levels this year, with more slated to join in 2026. Flag football also has been added as a sport for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.  

"Newberry College has always been at the forefront of growing opportunities for female student-athletes, and this is another move to strengthen that commitment," said Johnson.

Two schools in the South Atlantic Conference (Mars Hill, Wingate) and six schools from Conference Carolinas (Chowan University, Emmanuel University, Ferrum College, King University, Lees-McRae College and the University of Mount Olive ) also sponsor women's flag football.

There are also 35 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and 15 members of the National Junior College Athletic Association that sponsor women's flag football.  Newberry College is thrilled to offer this sport in what will be a high-demand and competitive field.

Currently high school varsity girls flag football programs are sponsored in 30 states with 17 of those sponsoring officially sanctioned state championships including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The National Football League has been instrumental in the growth of flag football with the Carolina Panthers sponsoring a tournament at Mauldin High School in late October with over 300 girls from 13 participating Greenville County Schools in attendance.  The Panthers have also supported the growth of girl's flag football in York Country.

Of the five current sports designated as Emerging Sports for Women, Newberry College has or is sponsoring three of those sports including acrobatics and tumbling, also in their second season, and triathlon which began in 2021-22.

Newberry College has a strong history of success in women's college athletics including this year's field hockey team that finished national runner-up at the 2025 NCAA Division 2 Tournament.