WINCHESTER, Va. — Shenandoah University Interim Director of Athletics Bill Stewart has announced the addition of women's flag football as the university's 24th intercollegiate sport.

Shenandoah introduced the sport at the club level in Fall 2025, and is the eighth member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference to add women's flag football as a varsity sport. 

The ODAC will sponsor women's flag football as a conference sport beginning in 2027-28, according to ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston. Shenandoah will begin competing in that inaugural conference season. 

A search is underway for Shenandoah's first head coach.

"We're excited to elevate women's flag football to varsity status as Shenandoah's 24th intercollegiate sport," Stewart said. "Our students have shown a great passion for our club team, and our Athletics Department's commitment to identifying new and exciting opportunities for all of our student-athletes, paired with the rise of women's flag football in Winchester, Frederick County and throughout Virginia, made this a natural next step for Shenandoah Athletics. This is an exciting moment for Shenandoah University and the ODAC, and we look forward to finding our inaugural coach to build a championship-caliber program from the ground up."

Shenandoah's addition of women's flag football, one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S., comes as the sport trends toward full NCAA sponsorship. Flag football was added to the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women program earlier this year, and the Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact has recommended that all three NCAA divisions sponsor legislation to add a National Collegiate Flag Football Championship. Divisions I, II and III will vote in January 2027, on whether to add women's flag football as a championship sport, with competition projected to start in spring 2028.

Over 70 NCAA Division III schools sponsor women's flag football as a varsity sport. Shenandoah is one of three ODAC schools to announce that they will play their inaugural season in Spring 2028; three other ODAC members will debut flag football in Spring 2027.

"I'm pleased to see Shenandoah add women's flag football and help the sport continue to grow in our conference," said ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston. "The NCAA's recognition of flag football as an emerging sport has helped build interest across college athletics, and we've seen that momentum firsthand among our member schools. I look forward to the ODAC beginning conference play in 2027-28 and providing another opportunity for women to compete in an ODAC varsity sport."

The NFL has supported the rise of women's flag football throughout the U.S., at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. John Handley High School in Winchester, and James Wood, Millbrook and Sherando high schools in Frederick County, Virginia, each introduced girls flag football in Fall 2027 as part of a two-year partnership with the NFL's Washington Commanders, who have fostered similar partnerships with over 100 schools throughout Virginia over the past two years.

"Women's flag football has gained incredible momentum locally and nationally, and Shenandoah is proud to be part of the push to create more athletic opportunities for women at the NCAA level," said Shenandoah University President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. "Our flag football program will give women an incredible new NCAA D3 stage on which to compete."

The sport is also growing at the professional level, with the NFL-backed Premier Flag league set to play its first season in Summer 2027. Men's and women's flag football will make their Olympic debut in Los Angeles in Summer 2028.

Women's flag football is the second intercollegiate sport that Shenandoah University has added in the past two years, with men's volleyball making its debut in the 2025-26 academic year.