Girls flag football inches closer to varsity status in Massachusetts

A grassroots effort to make girls flag football a varsity sport in Massachusetts has cleared a key hurdle, after supporters submitted a new application to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The application, submitted Oct. 1, has entered the MIAA’s formal review process, according to Kayla Balamotis, a girls flag football coach, player, and advocate behind the push to get the sport sanctioned. She said sanctioning would give players the opportunity to play beyond high school and into the collegiate level.

“The sport is growing tremendously. It’s becoming a big college sport. Having it as a varsity sport is going to get them noticed more, get recruiters and scouts out there to look at them, to make it more legit so they have this career background before they get to college, just like any other sport,” she said. 

Balamotis, a property manager who has played flag football for more than a decade and coaches the Greater Lowell Tech team, co-founded the All Girls Flag social media campaign about two years ago with co-founder Alicia Bernardo. The duo were introduced to each other by the New England Patriots, which has been a key player in advocating for girls flag football in Massachusetts, Balamotis said. The NFL team launched its Patriots High School Girls Flag Football program in 2023 with eight teams. Now, that figure has grown to “almost 70,” Balamotis said. 

“Without them, this literally would not be a thing,” Balamotis said of the Patriots.

All Girls Flag used social media to reach players and schools directly to encourage their principals to sign letters of support for the application. To apply to add a new sport, the MIAA requires letters from principals representing at least 15% (about 58 schools) of its more than 380 member schools. 

The most recent application is the second attempt to get the sport sanctioned, following a setback. Last year, the MIAA rejected an application to make girls flag football a recognized, state-sponsored sport. At the time, Balamotis said supporters were “very angry and upset.” But she credited the association for replacing its varsity sports process, which had allowed applications only every two years, with one that allows them annually as long as criteria are met.

“We have to thank the MIAA to an extent, because they did install a new process to offer a varsity sport,” she added. 

Balamotis said the application is the first to go through the new process, so there is no clear timeline for a decision. However, she hopes the sport will become an “emerging” sport in 2027 and a fully sanctioned MIAA sport by 2028. Emerging status, she said, means it is “not yet sanctioned, but it’s on the road to be.”

The timing coincides with the sport’s rising profile. Flag football is scheduled to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Annie Jonas is a Community writer at Boston.com. She was previously a local editor at Patch and a freelancer at the Financial Times.