A few minutes east of Interstate 465, a short joy ride from the forestland of Fort Harrison State Park, the Lawrence North girls flag football team filed in for practice on their home field.
The Wildcats, who were the runners-up in the first Indiana high school girls flag football state championship game last season, lined up for a cone drill. With their flag belts clipped on, assistant coach yelling instructions and yellow markers surrounding them, the girls worked on footwork and change of direction.
It was the summer grind for a sport that is blowing up across the country. Girls’ flag football is a new pastime that has gained steam in Indiana with 108 high schools taking part in the sports boom.
“There are girls that are natural competitors,” said Lawrence North coach Donny Mimms. “Who likes it when someone tells you you can’t play, right? It’s always something that you want that you can’t have. There are several million girls saying, ‘I can do this too’ and girls flag football allows them to show that the girls — they can play football.”
Eyeballs were on flag football during the NFL FLAG Championships, which was hosted in Westfield from July 23-26. According to ESPN, more than 45,000 people attended the three-day event at Grand Park Sports Campus. It was the first time it was hosted in Indiana, three years since its inception.
A record total of 14.3 million fans tuned into the action on ESPN, NFL Network and Disney platforms, marking a 50% increase compared to 2025.
It provided Indiana high school players — including Lawrence North — with the opportunity to play in front of college coaches. It also gave them expertise in 5-on-5 play, which is the format for international competition, like the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics, and differs from the state’s 7-on-7 high school structure.
It was a faster pace, the kind of style that benefits Indiana players whose season begins on Aug. 15. That experience hits different for the girls that welcome competition. The same ones that were shunned away from tackle football and are now blazing their own path in the girls flag football stratosphere.
“It really means so much to me because I really love to see all the things that we get to do as girls that we really didn’t get to do as girls (growing up),” said Lawrence North quarterback Heavynne Beard. “Girls wanted to play tackle football, but some coaches didn’t let them because they tried to call us soft, but for flag football I feel like it is a very tough sport and it’s as aggressive as any other physical sport.”
Propelled by its popularity, flag football has also become a magnet for wide-eyed rookies stepping onto the field with zero experience. Lawrence North sophomore Kamari Evans, who enters her second season with the Wildcats, said she wanted to try something new as a freshman. Her initial curiosity has turned into hard-earned experience as a wide receiver.
“I never done football ever in my life, but I feel trying new stuff and being with a team like (Lawrence North) and having a good coach, I feel like it would be a right sport for me to do,” Evans said. “I came in very nervous. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was lost but then teammates encouraged me and they helped me do better.”
During the NFL FLAG Championships, the Indianapolis Colts announced that they completed their ‘Road to 100’ initiative, which was aimed at recruiting 100 Indiana schools to participate in girls flag football. With that milestone reached, the path from an “emerging sport” to an officially sanctioned IHSAA sport is within reach.
Girls flag football in Indiana began with eight teams in 2023. It grew to 27 teams in 2024 and became an “emerging sport” before that number rose to 78 teams in 2025. Thirty schools were announced as new additions to Indiana girls flag football, increasing the total to 108 statewide.
The Wildcats, having represented the Tennessee Titans at the NFL FLAG Championships, were back on the field just a few days after their TV appearance. Running from their midfield to the goal line. Not taking their foot off the gas. Not running away from the work that earned them a spot on the global stage.
Last spring, the Wildcats launched a middle school team as a pipeline to build long-term interest. Support from the community and school has steadily grown stronger since the team was introduced in 2024.
That synergy is what has fueled the sport’s meteoric rise across the state. With women’s flag football recognized as an official collegiate sport by the NAIA and an emerging sport by the NCAA, high school girls in Indianapolis are eying opportunities at the next level.
Before that can happen, Indiana girls flag football must reach sanctioned status and be on par with other IHSAA sports. A goal that could materialize in 2027.
“I think that is the next step: getting it sanctioned and allowing us to have all the recognition that all the other sanctioned sports have,” Mimms said. “Like a Miss Football, an IHSAA recognized state champion, Academic All-State. Showing that our girls are not just great athletes but they’re great students. All of this is important and it’s going to … help these girls get scholarships.”
Marc Ray is a high school sports reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at marc.ray@indystar.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: From emerging sport to sanctioned dream, girls flag football is on an upward trajectory in Indianapolis
Reporting by Marc Ray, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Marc Ray, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
