Iowa High School Adds Girls Flag Football Program

Ames High School uses grant from Minnesota Vikings to form team.

Mahopac players go through a drill during the Section 1 Girls Flag Football Jamboree at Somers High School March 14, 2026. The event kicks off the spring season and features clinics, drills, and scrimmages for numerous high school teams across the lower Hudson Valley. | Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

An Iowa high school has received a grant from the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL that will allow them to create a girls flag football program.

Ames High School will field a girls flag football team this coming spring and compete in the Des Moines Public Schools Flag Football League.

NFL Minnesota Vikings Helping Support Girls Flag Football

The Vikings helped to establish a league in the state of Minnesota, and have now since expanded to Iowa. Des Moines Public Schools fielded a team a year ago, and according to WHO TV 13, several other Des Moines metro schools are also joining the league.

“We kind of did an interest survey with the girls at our school, and next thing you know, we had some interest,” Ames High School athletic director Lyle Fedders said. “So we ended up then getting another conversation with the Minnesota Vikings about how we could get it started.”

A $10,000 grant was provided to Ames to help with initial costs to begin the program including to purchase such items as jerseys, flags, footballs and other materials.

Dowling Catholic Won Girls Flag Football Title Last Year

Games will be played in Des Moines at Mediacom Stadium.

Last year, Dowling Catholic downed Des Moines Roosevelt in the championship game of the Des Moines Public Schools Flag Football League. Merrill Middle School claimed the middle school title over McCombs Middle School.