{"id":875433,"date":"2026-04-26T19:48:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T19:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/875433\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T19:48:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T19:48:54","slug":"first-all-girls-flag-football-game-in-roaring-fork-valley-played-between-aspen-and-glenwood-springs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/875433\/","title":{"rendered":"First all-girls flag football game in Roaring Fork Valley played between Aspen and Glenwood Springs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The girls flag football movement is real, and the momentum is now being felt locally. On Friday, the 10U Aspen squad hosted Glenwood Springs A in the first all-girls flag football game in the Roaring Fork Valley. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese girls are blazing the trail for generations to come and I couldn\u2019t be more proud of them,\u201d said Wes Campbell, a coach and parent of two players in Glenwood Springs, which <a href=\"https:\/\/glenwoodrecsports.com\/schedule\/700558\/females-in-flag\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">launched its co-ed league<\/a> in the fall of 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince then, it has quickly become one of our most popular youth programs, offering a fun, accessible and inclusive environment for athletes of all experience levels,\u201d said Nick Adams,\u00a0the athletics supervisor for Glenwood Springs Parks and Recreation. \u201cThis season, for the first time, we have enough participation to introduce all-girls matchups alongside our traditional co-ed league, marking a significant step forward in the growth of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Flag football is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, particularly for girls. Participation <a href=\"https:\/\/athletesuntapped.com\/blog\/girls-flag-football-fastest-growing-youth-sport\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">grew<\/a> 63% from 2019 to 2023 for girls ages 6 to 17. The\u00a0National Federation of State High School Associations reported\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nfhs.org\/stories\/participation-in-high-school-sports-hits-record-high-with-sizable-increase-in-2024-25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">68,847 girls played high school flag football<\/a> in 2024-2025, a 60% increase over the prior year. <\/p>\n<p>A game of girls youth flag football is played on Friday, April 24, 2026, on Lower Moore Field in Aspen.<br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<p>                                        <img decoding=\"async\" data-image-url=\"https:\/\/swiftmedia.s3.amazonaws.com\/mountain.swiftcom.com\/images\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/25003935\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-03-scaled.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-03-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A game of girls youth flag football is played on Friday, April 24, 2026, on Lower Moore Field in Aspen. (Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<p>                                        <img decoding=\"async\" data-image-url=\"https:\/\/swiftmedia.s3.amazonaws.com\/mountain.swiftcom.com\/images\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/25003824\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-02-scaled.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-02-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A game of girls youth flag football is played on Friday, April 24, 2026, on Lower Moore Field in Aspen. (Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<p>                                        <img decoding=\"async\" data-image-url=\"https:\/\/swiftmedia.s3.amazonaws.com\/mountain.swiftcom.com\/images\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/25004220\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-05-scaled.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-05-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A game of girls youth flag football is played on Friday, April 24, 2026, on Lower Moore Field in Aspen.<br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<p>                                        <img decoding=\"async\" data-image-url=\"https:\/\/swiftmedia.s3.amazonaws.com\/mountain.swiftcom.com\/images\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/25004043\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-04.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-04-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A game of girls youth flag football is played on Friday, April 24, 2026, on Lower Moore Field in Aspen. (Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<p>                                        <img decoding=\"async\" data-image-url=\"https:\/\/swiftmedia.s3.amazonaws.com\/mountain.swiftcom.com\/images\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/25004311\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-06-scaled.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-06-768x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A game of girls youth flag football is played on Friday, April 24, 2026, on Lower Moore Field in Aspen. (Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<p>                                        <img decoding=\"async\" data-image-url=\"https:\/\/swiftmedia.s3.amazonaws.com\/mountain.swiftcom.com\/images\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/25004356\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-07-scaled.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/girlsfootball-atd-042426-07-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In April 2024, Colorado <a href=\"https:\/\/chsaanow.com\/news\/2024\/4\/24\/girls-flag-football-powers-to-sanctioned-status.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">became<\/a> the 11th state to make girls flag football a sanctioned high school sport. As of this writing, <a href=\"https:\/\/nflflag.com\/girls-flag-football\/high-school\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">17 states have sanctioned leagues and 22<\/a> more are hosting pilot programs. Further, over 100 colleges and universities offered women\u2019s flag football across the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA during the spring 2025 season.\u00a0Flag football will also be included in the 2028 Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" data-image-url=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/VD-logo-white.png\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/VD-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\" style=\"z-index: 999; max-height: 40px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\nSupport Local JournalismDonate&#13;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>In Colorado, there are<a href=\"https:\/\/chsaanow.com\/documents\/2024\/7\/25\/2024_Flag_Football_Bulletin.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> 30 4A and 33 5A schools currently participating in CHSAA\u2019s girls flag football league.<\/a> Mountain View won the first 4A title in 2024 and The Classical Academy captured the state title last fall. Mountain Vista is the two-time defending 5A state champions.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/operations.nfl.com\/learn-the-game\/flag-football\/flag-football-growth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NFL Flag<\/a>\u2014 with over 1,600 teams serving roughly 620,000 athletes in all 50 states \u2014 supports youth flag football programs across the country. Adams oversees the Glenwood Springs program, which offers five co-ed age divisions ranging from ages 5 to 15. The youngest division (ages 5-6) has four teams while the largest division (ages 9-10) contains 11 squads. This spring, over 370 athletes from across the Roaring Fork are participating in Glenwood Springs, Adams said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAspen also operates a separate program, and we have coordinated this season to provide all-girls game opportunities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>There are three Glenwood Springs all-girls teams (10U A, 10U B, 13U) and two Aspen squads (10U, 13U). Adams said four additional all-girls games are scheduled for the coming weeks. Campbell said Friday\u2019s inaugural 5-on-5 contest was \u201csomething special.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe joy of the girls was something to witness,\u201d he stated. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis game is an exciting moment not just for our program, but for youth sports in our community. Seeing enough interest to create all-girls competition speaks to the growth of the game and the opportunities now available to young athletes,\u201d Adams added. \u201cWe are proud to provide a program where kids can learn the game, build confidence and simply enjoy being part of a team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The girls flag football movement is real, and the momentum is now being felt locally. On Friday, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7],"class_list":{"0":"post-875433","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116472748195660359","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875433","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=875433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}