We Speak Flag Football
NAIA Elevates Women’s Flag Football to a Championship Sport, First Official Title Set for Spring 2027
Women’s flag football is officially a championship sport in the NAIA. The association voted in June to elevate flag football to become its 30th championship sport, with the first official national championship to be contested in spring 2027.
The move formalizes what this spring’s inaugural NAIA Flag Football Invitational at IMG Academy already looked like: a national postseason. Warner beat Keiser 13-6 in the final to complete a 24-0 season, Kansas Wesleyan finished third, and five-time Finals winner Ottawa was knocked out in a 19-13 classic.
The NAIA has been the college home of women’s flag football since the sport launched at the varsity level in 2021, and roughly 60 institutions are expected to sponsor programs as the championship era begins. Power programs like Ottawa, Keiser, Warner and Kansas Wesleyan have set the standard, producing the players and coaches — Ottawa’s Liz Sowers among them — now spreading across the sport.
With championship status comes championship stakes: official brackets, official records and a title that will only grow in value as the NCAA moves toward its own championship later this decade.
We Speak Flag Football
Alabama Runs Deep: Undefeated Moody, Central and Montgomery Catholic All Sit in the National Top 15
If you want to find the center of the high school flag football universe, check Alabama. Three Alabama programs sit in the USA TODAY Super 25 national rankings — and the state’s No. 2 team hasn’t lost in 30 games.
Moody (17-0) is the streak story of the fall. The defending AHSAA Class 1A-5A champions picked up their 30th consecutive win this week, are ranked No. 7 in the Super 25 and No. 8 in the MaxPreps national rankings, and recently outscored three opponents 146-0 in a single week. Sophomore Sophie White put up 472 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns in one doubleheader. The Blue Devils’ title DNA is real: last December at Protective Stadium, quarterback Serenity Rutledge threw three touchdown passes — to Zoey Terry, White and Kennedy Hockman — and Cheyenne Moore returned an interception 48 yards for a score in a 27-18 final win over Montgomery Catholic.
Central of Phenix City (11-2) is Alabama’s No. 1 and the nation’s No. 5, powered by Savannah Sevier, who recently stacked 301 yards, four touchdowns, six flag pulls and four pass breakups in a single week. Montgomery Catholic (12-1), ranked No. 15 nationally, is right back in the hunt behind senior Hayden Fitts, who ran for three touchdowns and threw for another against Spain Park.
With Spain Park, Vestavia Hills, Boaz and Brewbaker Tech also ranked in the state Super 10, Alabama’s playoffs this winter might be the toughest tournament in the country.
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