INDIANAPOLIS — Young Hoosiers are showing their classmates what it really means to “play like a girl,” kicking off the first girls’ high school flag football postseason.
In just two years’ time, the state’s girls’ high school flag football league has grown nearly tenfold.
“It’s great to see that girls can do what boys can even better,” said Lawrence North flag football player Jaida Wheat.
Now considered an “emerging sport” by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, girls’ flag football is one step closer to becoming officially sanctioned.
“This is monumental,” said Donny Mimms, head coach of the Lawrence North girls’ flag football team. “It shows that the growth of women’s sports is loved in Indiana, and Indiana supports women’s sports.”
Mimms helped steer the statewide effort to put girls’ flag football programs in 100 high schools. Right now, the total’s about 20 shy of the goal, but he — and IHSAA Assistant Commissioner Robert Faulkens — aren’t worried about it.
“I think as people see what this means, how girls now have another opportunity to participate in their school, I’m pretty sure we’ll hit that mark pretty soon,” Faulkens said.
You can already see the impact it’s having on girls eager to take the field.
“I’ve always seen my brothers play football,” said Lawrence North flag football player Cydnei Harper. “I just always wanted to play, but they would say I’m a girl.”
Nowadays, being a girl means having the support of the Indianapolis Colts, who launched the flag football league in 2023. The team invested a million dollars to bring girls’ flag football to more Hoosier schools, proving these games are more than matchups. They’re memories, and bright futures in the making, like for Heavynne Beard, who grew up playing on a boys’ football team.
But now, she and her teammates even have options.
“I heard that the South Carolina Gamecocks have a flag football team at their college, and I’m really excited because that’s actually the college I want to go to,” said Beard, who also plays for Lawrence North.
“The NCAA is watching,” Mimms said. “They want to see how it’s going. Once it gets up to that level, it’s just going to take off.”
The Colts are set to host the sectional-round winners Saturday at Grand Park for the 2025 State Girls’ Flag Football Finals.
