Saint Anselm College announced Thursday the addition of women’s flag football as a new intercollegiate varsity athletic offering.
The addition expands opportunities for student-athletes while reinforcing the College’s commitment to a well-rounded collegiate experience that emphasizes both academic and athletic development.
“We are so pleased to announce plans to add women’s flag football to the Hawks athletics program,” said Dr. Michael Lewis, President of Saint Anselm College. “We have seen the growth of this sport at the youth, high school, and college level. Adding women’s flag football here is an extension of our commitment to strong NCAA athletics opportunities for Saint Anselm students."
In January 2026, the NCAA added women’s flag football to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women, a program aimed at assisting emerging sports reach NCAA championship status. One of the fastest-growing sports at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels, flag football is on pace to be offered by over 100 NCAA institutions at the varsity level in the coming year, with many other institutions sponsoring the sport at the club level. Saint Anselm will join many other colleges and universities in the Northeast region that sponsor flag football.
The sport’s growth across the country has been supported by substantial funding and development efforts from the NFL, USA Football, and RCX Sports, helping create more opportunities for athletes to participate. Flag football has been added to the Olympic offerings at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles due to the recent growth.
“We are excited to add women’s flag football to our athletic offerings at Saint Anselm College and continue expanding opportunities for student-athletes to compete at the collegiate level,” said Phil Rowe, Saint Anselm College Director of Athletics. “The growth of women’s flag football presents an exciting opportunity for our College, and we look forward to building a program that reflects the values of Saint Anselm while providing student-athletes with a meaningful experience both on and off the field.”
The women’s flag football team will debut on campus as the 24th varsity sport sponsored by the College, the most in school history, at the start of the 2027-28 academic year, and begin competition in the spring of 2028.
A national search for the program’s inaugural head coach will commence immediately.
Prospective student-athletes are encouraged to fill out a recruiting questionnaire.
Finalized plans, such as competition site and conference membership, will be announced at a later date.