The Colts\u2019 \u201cRoad to 100\u201d push to get 100 Hoosier high schools to commit to having a girls flag football team has already made major in-roads across Indiana. Nearly 60 programs are currently on board; once 100 schools in the state field a girls flag football team, the IHSAA will put girls flag football under consideration to be an officially-sanctioned sport.<\/p>\n
The first 100 schools to join the \u201cRoad to 100\u201d will receive a $10,000 support package from the Irsay family and Colts, which includes financial support, jerseys and a USA Football equipment kit. The total commitment from the Irsay family and Colts is $1 million toward growing girls flag football.<\/p>\n
A dozen states \u2013 including Illinois, Indiana\u2019s neighbor to the west \u2013 already sanction girls flag football at the high school level. Indiana is one of 19 states with a pilot program.<\/p>\n
The sport is exploding across the country, and T.J. Williams \u2013 the head women\u2019s flag football coach at the University of Saint Francis and also an assistant at Fort Wayne Northrop High School \u2013 doesn\u2019t want anyone to get left behind.<\/p>\n
Especially in Indiana.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want anybody to miss the train on what women\u2019s flag is going to do,\u201d Williams said. \u201c\u2026 I don\u2019t want anybody to miss out, and I don\u2019t want us to be the reason why we miss out. We can control it. So as long as we can control it, let\u2019s make sure that we do what need to do so we can give these women the opportunities. I want to make sure that there\u2019s so much there that you can\u2019t miss it. I want this to be the next big sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach Williams is changing the game \ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udfc8<\/p>\n
Read more about how he’s growing the game of flag in Indiana at https:\/\/t.co\/pSVjaxL0Md<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AKZViHWRVk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Colts Community (@coltscommunity) April 16, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n Williams has been coaching flag football for 10 years, but his most recent position at the University of Saint Francis \u2013 an NAIA school in Fort Wayne \u2013 has been part of a remarkable success story for the sport of women\u2019s flag football. Saint Francis offers scholarships for women\u2019s flag football student-athletes; he has five players on scholarship from Fort Wayne, as well as others from the Indianapolis area.<\/p>\n That girls flag football is a vehicle for women to attend college on a scholarship is not only a sign of the remarkable growth of the sport \u2013 it\u2019s a sign of the positive impact the sport can make.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s bigger than girls flag,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI think it\u2019s just for women in general and having that platform. A big thing that I tell the girls that are getting recruiting by and are coming to the University of Saint Francis, I want to make sure they have the platform to grow as women around the country and to do what they need to be leaders of the next generation. It\u2019s important for them to get on this stage and then for them to have a vehicle that\u2019s going to pay for school, whether they\u2019re \u2014 for us \u2014 nursing or sports management or business or elementary education.\u201d<\/p>\n And Williams is encouraging anyone in charge of an athletic department \u2013 in this case, at the high school level in Indiana \u2013 to do their research about girls flag football. The sport will only continue to grow \u2013 especially in Indiana, where the state\u2019s biggest football brand is heavily promoting its development \u2013 and if a community doesn\u2019t offer girls flag at the high school level, it could risk losing top athletes to other communities or states.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of women that are coming to the forefront of the space that they might be next in the NFL in the grand scheme of things,\u201d Williams said. \u201cOr they\u2019re getting on NFL staffs, you\u2019re seeing NFL officials, and other sports are growing it too. But specifically with football, it\u2019s so awesome to see. I think it\u2019s a blessing seeing these women get these opportunities and they\u2019re going to continue to pave the way in trailblazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams, too, has already played \u2013 and will continue to play \u2013 a big part in pushing the sport forward so girls can use it as a platform to elevate themselves not only within the sport of football, but with whatever they want to accomplish in life.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in at a great time right now,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI\u2019m just putting it lightly \u2014 we\u2019re at such an optimal spot. I think with our university, specifically here at Saint Francis, they jumped on it at the right time and they\u2019re building it at the right time so that we can get in to ride the wave as it gets ready to go through its ebbs and flows.\u201d<\/p>\n The Colts have prioritized flag football development to introduce the game to new players and fans, especially girls, who traditionally have not had the same opportunities to learn and play the game as boys. The Colts Girls Flag program is fueled by Gatorade and sponsored in part by Peyton Manning Children\u2019s Hospital. For more info, visit\u00a0Colts.com\/GirlsFlag<\/a>\u00a0or email\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n The above story by <\/a>JJ Stankevitz<\/a> appears on Colts.com<\/p>\n