High school flag football now has an official rulebook. It’s bringing changes to the game for Classical Academy’s team, last year’s regional champions.
“There's a lot of contact this year,” said Daniel Salas, the team’s head coach. “A lot more than last year, that's for sure.”
One big change involves the rusher. That’s the player who runs toward the quarterback to try and keep her from passing the ball.
Last year, the rusher had to start seven yards away from the line of scrimmage. One or two players could be rushers, and they had to raise their hand to indicate that role.
“So we really knew who was coming,” Salas said.
Now, rushers start one yard away from the line. Instead of one or two, up to seven players can be rushers. They also don’t have to indicate that they’re rushing first.
That makes the game faster and less predictable for the quarterback.
“Now her reaction time has to go a lot quicker,” Salas said. “Her decision-making has to be within one second.”
Offensive players have to spend more time blocking all of those rushers, leaving fewer options for passing the ball, said senior Mary Hayes.
“This year, those routes are usually shorter,” she said. “There's honestly just kind of less receivers out there because of the blocking. I think that's a big change in the game.”
These changes are bringing more contact to the sport. The same rules still apply as previous years. Players can’t extend their arms, elbows or knees out. But they can try to get in their opponent’s way, said senior Grace Stehly.
“I feel like I've always been like an aggressive player, so this has kind of been fun for me,” she said. “You really can kind of get up into people and kind of knock them around a little bit.”
Hayes agreed.
“It’s definitely an adjustment,” Hayes said. “But I think we’re all enjoying it. It’s fun to be able to be athletes out there and put our bodies on the line sometimes.”
The National Federation of State High School Associations’ rules also allow for punting.
“We don't like to punt as a program. That means we're doing something wrong, getting to fourth down and now we have to punt,” Salas said. “But it's fun. We have a bunch of soccer players here — Classical is filled with three-sport athletes — and so my biggest decision is, like, all their hands go up because they all want the punt.”
Hayes, who also plays soccer, is one of them.
“Last year we were like, ‘Why don't we do field goals? Why don't we do kickoff? Why don't we do punts?’” Hayes said. “We still don’t do field goals or kickoffs, but at least we’ve got a little taste of punting. It's so fun.”
Scores are lower so far this season that in previous years, Salas said. Teams are getting better as girls’ flag football becomes more popular.
“We're now in the 20s and 30s. The last two years we were constantly in the 50s, 60s and 70s,” he said. “All the athletes have improved. Everyone's faster, stronger. They're excited about it. Now, I mean, every game is a tough game.”
The number of girls playing flag football in California grew from about 21,000 in 2022 to 43,000 in 2023, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. It continued to increase the following year, with nearly 69,000 girls playing the sport in 2024, they found.
California is one of 16 states with official girls flag football programs. More than 20 others have pilot programs. The sport will make its Olympic debut for both men and women at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“Hopefully one day we'll do the homecoming court at the flag game along with the tackle,” Salas said.
