Girls High School Flag in Southwest Ohio will have 41 participating schools for the 2026 Spring Season, increasing from 20 in 2025.

The Bengals are hosting two events for participating schools before the season officially kicks off on Feb. 23. First, they will host a coaches' clinic on Feb. 17, followed by a skills clinic for athletes on Feb. 21. Ahead of the events, the team has partnered with Coaches Tool Chest to promote athlete safety and coaching resources related to emergency response and mental health, as well as with RefReps to help educate and train more officials in Southwest Ohio.

Games begin in late March, and all schools are required to play at least 10 games to be eligible for championships. The Bengals will also host the Regional Championship on May 11, and, in partnership with the Cleveland Browns and the OHSAA, will host the Sanctioned State Championship at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on May 16.

"The Bengals are excited to provide more opportunities for women in football through the fast-growing sport of flag football," Bengals Director of Community Engagement Taylor Conklin said. "We are focused on developing the next generation of athletes and helping them prepare for more opportunities after high school, including college and beyond. We're proud to give more girls the opportunity to be part of a team, improve their physical and mental health, and develop skills that will carry over into their adult lives."

Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the country: It is a sanctioned varsity sport in 17 states, with Ohio becoming the latest state to sanction it last summer. The sport will also make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

"Flag football is more than a sport — it's a platform for teamwork, leadership, development and community," Bengals Director of Strategy and Engagement Elizabeth Blackburn said at the official sanctioning press conference in July. "The Bengals are proud to support the growth of flag football."

Collegiately, the NCAA added flag football to its Emerging Sports for Women program with the eventual goal of it becoming an NCAA championship sport. The program helps schools provide more athletics opportunities for women and more sport-sponsorship options for schools. Since its creation in 1994, eight sports have become NCAA championship sports. Forty schools plan to sponsor flag football at the varsity level this spring, and some expect all three levels of NCAA competition to have the numbers necessary to host a championship event as early as next spring.

One of the brightest young stars in flag football resides locally, as Evie Schoolfield from Mount Notre Dame has already received eight collegiate scholarship offers, the most ever by a Cincinnati Girls Flag athlete. She was named a finalist for Maxwell Football Club's Girls National Flag Football Player of the Year Award. The growth of the sport locally has gotten more students involved in physical activity, as over half of the athletes who participated last year had never played a high school sport before. That number will only increase as participating schools now reach as far as Greater Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio.

Those interested in creating a team at their school for 2027, should contact their athletic director to get approval to form a new sport, recruit a head coach and form a team (10-15 athletes recommended) before confirming their participation with the Cincinnati Bengals Football Development staff in Fall 2026

Visit www.bengals.com/community/girls-flag-football for more information on girls flag football and the work the Bengals are doing to help grow the game.