Benjamin Stautzenbach is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Valley Vista for AZPreps365.com

Braylin Shaw was a varsity basketball player for the Valley Vista Monsoons. During her senior year of high school, she decided to try flag football for the first time. When she joined the team, she wasn't just joining another varsity team. Instead, she joined a team in one of the nation's fastest-growing sports.

Girls flag football is not only one of the fastest-growing sports in the nation but also one of the fastest-growing around high schools. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, girls flag football has seen an increase of 87,000 players over the past four years. For the 2025-2026 season, more than 102,000 girls were playing flag football in high school.

For Shaw, she said her reason for joining flag football was because she was looking for change. Shaw was a multi-sport athlete for the Monsoon, playing both basketball and running track. For multi-sport high school athletes like Shaw, flag football offered an opportunity to try something new.

“I’ve been playing basketball, and I’ve been running track, and I just wanted to use my athletics to play another sport, and I ended up liking flag football,” Shaw said.

Shaw's experience is just one of the reasons why flag football is growing so rapidly. Another reason it's growing so fast is that colleges are starting to add it as an official college sport. One example of this is the University of Nebraska officially adding girls' flag football to their athletic program. Nebraska is also the first and only Power Four conference team to offer girls varsity flag football.

“If you can get those girls to buy in, they're going to understand,” Valley Vista coach Kenneth Storkel said. "I can get a D3 scholarship for basketball, but I could get a big-time flag football scholarship.” 

With the emergence of scholarships at the college level, flag football is officially taking the national stage. For example, girls flag football is making its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

While the sport's rapid rise is providing plenty of opportunities for girls, that's not the only reason they're playing. Valley Vista senior Aryanna Harrison explained that she plays because she just enjoys the sport.

“I just liked playing football with the boys, especially in middle school,” Harrison said. “ This year I had the opportunity to play, so I decided to play.’’ 

Although players like Harrison have experience playing tackle football, Harrison and her teammates still had to learn the game from the ground up. Some of the rules are different, besides the obvious changes like pulling flags instead of tackling. 

One of the biggest rule differences is that there is now no kickoff in girls flag football.

“The sport specifically, there has been a lot of rule changes,”  Storkel said. “Every year, you know, it was you had a kickoff, and now there's no kickoff, so there's been some rule changes that we have to adapt to every year.”

Even though flag football is still finding its footing with its sharp growth and rule changes, it has not stopped the girls from getting excited and putting in the work of this rapidly growing sport.

Storkel said he has seen his players quickly buy into flag football to the point where they're learning the terminology and language on their own time, as well as studying film. As the players continue to learn, there's also been a noticeable change in their attitude as well.

“When they walk around campus, they've got this swagger,” Storkel said. “I see it on the field, I see it in the classroom. I see it all over the place.”

For the players on the Valley Vista flag football team, the confidence the sport gives them goes beyond what people see on the field. It is also a confidence that comes from trying something new and meeting new people who are getting more opportunities to display their talents.

“It was a good way of playing a new sport, knowing that I could do more in other sports than just basketball, and just meeting new people, new friends, and just kind of having fun in it all,” Harrison said.

As flag football continues to rise across the country, the female athletes at Valley Vista know they are playing a part in the sport's continued growth. The more girl’s who play the sport is also helping give other female athletes opportunities that weren't available just a few years ago.

With more opportunities now present because of flag football, Shaw believes more girls should give flag football a fair shot.

“ I think these girls should definitely try flag football,”Shaw said. “I think they would like it. It's something different, and not a lot of people experience it.”