Girls across New Jersey will soon have a new varsity sport option.

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has voted to officially sanction high school girls’ flag football as a varsity sport, starting next school year.

New Jersey becomes the third state to sanction girls’ flag football this spring, joining Kansas and Maryland. More than one-third of the country now recognizes the sport at the high school varsity level.

Support from local NFL teams — the New York Jets, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles — has played a major role in the sport’s rapid growth statewide over the past five years.

Beginning in 2021, the Jets helped launch New Jersey’s first high school flag football league. Since then, the sport has expanded to 140 high schools fielding teams across the state. As part of that effort, the Jets also created Jets Flag Elite, a girls flag football club travel program with 14U and high school teams.

Two players from the Jets Flag Elite 14U team, Kaitlyn Richards and Myla Ramos, were recently selected for USA Football’s 15U U.S. Girls’ National Team.

The Eagles have also contributed to the sport’s expansion, partnering with South Jersey schools since 2023 through the Eagles Girls Flag Football League. In collaboration with USA Football, the Eagles provided USA Football Flag Kits to 30 NJSIAA member schools.

According to USA Football research, participation among girls ages 6 to 12 increased by 283% from 2015 through 2024. That momentum is now reaching the high school level. More than 68,800 girls played high school flag football in 2024, a 60% increase from the previous year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

USA Football, the national governing body for American football, oversees both tackle and flag football programs in the United States. The organization partners with NFL teams to support girls flag football through grants and resources, hosts talent identification camps and manages the national team pipeline.

USA Football will also be responsible for selecting, training and leading Team USA when flag football makes its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.