North Dakota Launches First Girls Flag Football With NFL’s Help

Minnesota Vikings sponsor 9-12 girls flag football program.

Kingston’s Kamryn Gray gets her flag pulled by a Franklin Pierce defender during the opening round of the District 3 1A/2A Girls Flag Football Tournament at Olympic High School on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. / MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings are sponsoring the first high school girls flag football league in the state of North Dakota.

Back in 2024, the Vikings helped get women’s flag football started at Concordia College. Now, according to a report by inforum.com, they will do the same at the high school level.

North Dakota Girls Flag Football Season Begins This Year

The Fargo Park District made the announcement that the NFL team is launching flag football for girls in grades 9-12 in the Fargo-Moorhead metro area. It will be the first of its kind in North Dakota.

“We’re super excited,” Fargo Park district executive director Susan Faus said. “I think hte program aligns with our mission of growing community through places, spaces and experiences, and really when it comes to helping youth find a place where they can really thrive, and that’s what we’re excited about with this partnership.”

According to the report, the league will have eight weeks in all, with once-a-week practices and six regular season games. Playoffs will take place following that with games taking place inside the multi-use turf field of the Fargo Parks Sports Center in South Fargo.

Games are set to begin on April 26 and will be contested on weekends.

“As flag football continues to grow nationwide, it’s important that girls have access to organized, high-quality opportunities to play,” Brett Taber, vice president of social impact with the Minnesota Vikings, said. “This program is an important step in expanding girls flag football throughout the region and building a foundation for future growth.”

Flag Football Continues To Grow, Added To 2028 Summer Olympics

Over 100 schools will take part in girls flag football in Minnesota, a number that more than doubled from the previous year. Flag football is sanctioned as a varsity sport in 17 states including Illinois and Colorado, with the Vikings also working to bring it to Iowa.

In 2025, the National Federation of State High School Associations published its first national rules for high school flag football, the first time they had done that since 2000 with boys lacrosse.

Flag football will be a new sport at the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.