In February, Elizabethtown College announced that women’s flag football would be added to their lineup of varsity sports. The last sport they added was men’s volleyball in 2018. An interest meeting for the flag football team was held on Thursday, Oct. 8.

The sport’s popularity has been on the rise, and adding it to Etown increases the opportunities for female athletes on campus. The college is the first Division III school to directly endorse a varsity women’s flag football program, and are on the forefront of helping it develop.

“We get to be pioneers in the sport,” Head Coach Michael Osayi said.

The game is seven versus seven with four 12-minute quarters and is non-contact. It has a focus on high speed and strategic thinking. The players wear flag belts with sockets and two pop-flags on both sides of their hips. 

Etown’s team will start practices next spring and have their first game in the spring of 2028. Attendance will be taken at practices, and Osayi will cut students who habitually miss practices because of the sport’s varsity level.

Osayi has a seven year coaching background with experience in tackle and flag football. He grew up in Middletown, so coaching flag football at Etown is a way of giving back to his community. He will strive to give the players experiences on how to compete, fight against adversity and make friends for a lifetime.

Setting this foundation of the right level of competitiveness and connection will continually aid the program.“We are the first flag football team so we will set the culture. We’ll bring on lots of great people that will make the school and community proud and really set the tone for years to follow,” Osayi said.

Creating a culture in which each student can be comfortable and work through difficult obstacles together will help build character overall. It will provide them with a safe space to express themselves and build upon their athletic and personal skills.

Osayi’s goal is to recruit seven to ten people already on campus for a good mix of the roster. The students he wants to bring on are people who want to compete, be invested in the classroom and learn about their teammates and build relationships with them.

Having students who already know more about the sport makes it possible for future teammates to have a support group off the bat. They will inevitably struggle at least a little bit with the transition to college, but they’ll immediately have friendly faces to turn to, making it easier.

The team will have a two-point-five GPA requirement, and Osayi plans to hold excellent academic standards for the players.

“My number one goal is that you’re getting that degree,” Osayi said. 

There will be two seasons, the fall non-traditional season and the spring traditional season. The fall season will be slightly more laid back, with it mainly consisting of practices, voluntary lifts and learning more about the sport. They will meet around three to four days a week for three to four hours a day.

For the spring traditional season, there will be more games along with the lifts, study and practices. This will be a bigger time commitment of five to six days a week depending on the schedule of the games.

Students of any athletic level are able to join the team, even if they know nothing about the sport.

“Everyone’s going to be coming in from different aspects of life with experience, we’ll have to catch up some and teach them about the game,” Osayi said. “The rewarding part is everyone will be doing it together. While it’s a challenge, it’s also fun because they can learn more and compete together.”

People who want to sign up for the sport can look up the username @bluejayswflagfb on Instagram to fill out the interest form in their bio.