{"id":873180,"date":"2026-04-24T01:03:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873180\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T01:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:03:48","slug":"john-carroll-university-launches-womens-flag-football-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873180\/","title":{"rendered":"John Carroll University launches women\u2019s flag football team"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) – John Carroll University is adding to its athletic tradition with a women\u2019s flag football team!<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll take the field in spring 2027 while opening the door for a new generation of student athletes in one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Carroll University launches women\u2019s flag football team(John Carroll University)ONE BALL, TWO PROGRAMS<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll operate under the umbrella of the Blue Streaks football program, whose 100-year history has led them to be known as the NFL Pipeline with John Carroll University being represented in 10 straight Super Bowls.<\/p>\n

ONE COACH, TWO TEAMS<\/p>\n

Speaking of men\u2019s football, JCU\u2019s Running Backs Coach Felicia Teeter will now also lead the Women\u2019s Flag Football team.<\/p>\n

She previously built the women\u2019s flag football programs at Bethel University in Minnesota and Pratt Community College in Kansas.<\/p>\n

In addition to her new role as Head Coach, she will continue to serve as the men\u2019s running backs coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited to help bring women\u2019s flag football to John Carroll,\u201d said Teeter. \u201cThe tradition of football here is extremely special, and adding the flag program allows us to share that with a new group of athletes. I look forward to mentoring and developing them while also demonstrating that they can have a future in football.\u201d<\/p>\n

GROWING ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT<\/p>\n

As a Division III university, athletes are known \u201cfor the love of the game,\u201d and for a Jesuit Catholic liberal arts school in Northeast Ohio with an undergrad enrollment of about 2,400 students, the department continues to thrive.<\/p>\n

This is JCU\u2019s 26th varsity sport, and the third women\u2019s varsity team added in the last four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to announce women\u2019s flag football as the 26th varsity sport at John Carroll,\u201d Vice President of Athletics Brian Polian \u201997 stated. \u201cWomen\u2019s flag football is one of the fastest-growing sports across the nation. High school athletic associations throughout the country have been sanctioning it, including here in Ohio. The time was right for the Blue Streaks to establish this program and provide young women the opportunity to compete on our campus.\u201d <\/p>\n

GROWING SPORT<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s flag football continues to surge as one of the most rapidly growing sports in the USA. <\/p>\n

The OSHAA introduced the sport as a sponsored championship event in July 2025.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the growth by the numbers, JCU shared:<\/p>\n

39 total states offer it17 states officially sanction it121 Ohio high schools have teams69,000+ high schoolers participated during the 2024-25 season<\/p>\n

JCU joins multiple other Ohio Division III schools that have women\u2019s flag football teams, including:<\/p>\n

Baldwin WallaceHeidelbergMount UnionWittenberg<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), John Carroll will look to build a competitive regional schedule as the sport continues to expand,\u201d JCU stated. \u201cA host of schools in New York and Pennsylvania also offer the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Carroll University launches women\u2019s flag football team(John Carroll University)<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) – John Carroll University is adding to its athletic tradition with a women\u2019s flag…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2026],"tags":[118347,4530,7,118346,6887,51048,9380],"class_list":{"0":"post-873180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-blue-streaks","9":"tag-flag-football","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-jcu","12":"tag-john-carroll-university","13":"tag-womens-flag-football","14":"tag-womens-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116456998966822438","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}