At Greater Latrobe, Livingston also realizes the benefits of flexibility. Her team boasts a wide variety of girls, from multisport athletes to others who had never played a school sport.
“We want as many people playing football as possible; that’s boys and girls, tackle and flag,” said Mike Marchinsky, senior manager of alumni relations and youth football for the Steelers. “We’re adamant that the game of football teaches great life lessons. There’s a place for everybody on the football field.”
This spring, regular-season games are played every week through May 11, followed by playoffs the weekend of May 17-18.
Kellen Stepler is a TribLive reporter covering the Allegheny Valley and Burrell school districts and surrounding areas. He joined the Trib in April 2023. He can be reached at kstepler@triblive.com.
Another sell is the sport’s flexibility — most teams practice two or three days a week, and games are held on Sundays. That attracts girls who participate in other spring sports, such as softball, lacrosse, and track and field, Sciullo said.
Once the sport is sanctioned, there will be one game on the field at a time, with the field measuring about 40 yards wide and 80 yards long.
The NCAA has recommended it for the association’s Emerging Sports for Women program, a key step for full sanction. All three of the NCAA’s divisions would have to approve it before that becomes official. Once it does, the sport would be eligible for national championships like any other NCAA sport.
“Our goal is to have more of a festival atmosphere,” Marchinsky said.
This spring, 50 area high schools will participate in girls flag football, coordinated by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The growth of girls flag football is exciting to Gateway High School Coach Haley Adams. Gateway is entering its third season.
The season begins Saturday with six high school teams — Jeannette, Mc­Keesport, Plum, Penn Hills, Woodland Hills and Gateway — and seven college teams in action at a showcase at Saint Vincent College. The other 44 teams will start their seasons Sunday: Locally, Deer Lakes will play games at North Allegheny, and Greensburg-Salem and Latrobe will start their seasons at Burrell.
It’s also a rising option for girls after high school.
In Western Pennsylvania, the Steelers provide stipends to school districts starting and maintaining girls flag football teams. The Philadelphia Eagles are doing the same in the eastern part of the state. There are more than 100 schools statewide with teams.
At least 65 NCAA colleges are sponsoring women’s flag football at the club or varsity levels this year, with more slated to join next year, according to the NCAA. At the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), at least 23 schools have teams. NAIA was the first college athletic association to sanction it as a varsity sport in 2020.
Last year, 14 girls were on Plum’s inaugural team; this year, they have 20.
Mia Jackson, 16, also grew up around football: Her older brother, Isaiah Jackson, played at Walsh University in Ohio. She hopes girls flag football is something that continues to grow.
As more high schools field girls flag football teams, that option for playing in college, and even beyond, is becoming a reality.
“It’s going to be just like any other sport,” she said of the WPIAL and PIAA recognition.
“Excitement for flag football continues to build around the globe with its inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics,” said Stephanie Kwok, vice president and head of flag football at the National Football League. “Pittsburgh has a deep history rooted in football, and it is exciting for the Steelers to promote opportunities for the local community, and especially women, to play flag football.”
“Seeing that come together at Latrobe is really nice to see,” Livingston said.
The nonstop action is something that has always drawn her to the game.
This year, new teams received a ,000 stipend, while returning teams are given a 0 stipend. The stipend program ends this year, she said, because the sport will be sanctioned by the state next year.
Sciullo said the interest in the sport at Plum is twofold: girls wanting to be a part of an unusual, growing sport and, for juniors and seniors, the opportunity to continue participation at the college level and beyond.
Girls flag football becomes PIAA-sanctioned next school year, making Pennsylvania the 13th state to adopt it as an official high school sport.
“We keep it as simple as possible as well as making it fun for them,” Coury said. “They’re like sponges — they absorb everything.”
There even are modest scholarships for women’s flag football at NAIA schools. Coaches for each team get stipends totaling ,000 to dole out to players at their discretion.
“You see a sense of belonging and wanting to be there,” said Sciullo, who is also an intermediate school principal at Plum. “They want to learn, grow and be a part of something we believe is special.”
“It was something new,” said Plum’s Chloe Quarles, 18, who also plays soccer and tennis. “I didn’t realize there was an option for girls to play flag football. I gave it a shot and ended up really enjoying it.”
Since 2022, the Steelers have donated more than 0,000 to schools to help grow girls flag football in Western Pennsylvania.
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“It’s such a good group of girls,” she said of the Burrell team. “I enjoy learning more about the sport I grew up with and love.”
Mackenzie Livingston played basketball in college, but if flag football had been an option, things might have been different.
She continued: “A lot of colleges are picking it up and allowing girls the opportunity to play after high school. We’re also looking to 2028, when it will be an Olympic sport. The future is so bright. We’re hoping to get middle school kids involved so we can build a pipeline to our varsity and JV teams.”
Next spring’s schedule would include game nights on weekends, Adams said, providing “a more consistent schedule instead of us all going to one location one day a week. It is absolutely fantastic just seeing how it is growing.”
That’s exactly what Kaylee Rodriguez, 17, plans to do when she graduates from Plum this spring and attends Temple University, where she’ll join the club flag football team.
“It’s a growing sport,” said Selina Boea, 18, a senior on Plum’s team. “I thought it was really fun and wanted to give it a shot.”
“You are constantly doing something — pulling flags or going out for routes — it’s always something,” said Livingston, the girls flag football coach and a physical education teacher at Greater Latrobe High School. “It’s very fast-paced, and it’s so enjoyable.”
“It’s fast-growing,” Livingston said. “It’s something different for the girls.”
Funding provided to schools supports costs associated with the sport, like uniforms, travel, coaches and athletic trainers. The stipend amount the Steelers provide to schools varies from year to year, said Steelers spokeswoman Cecelia Cagni.
As a cheerleader, Burrell’s Skylar Brown grew up around football, but playing the sport “is harder than it looks,” she said.
And it appears the opportunities won’t end there.
“I wanted to do it because it was new,” said Brown, 17. “The practices are rewarding. I didn’t know much.”
“My dad and I always grew up watching football together,” she said. “It was a boys sport, so I didn’t really have a chance, but when I found out there was flag football, I wanted to play.”
At the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, flag football for the first time will be an official Olympic sport for men and women.
Girls flag football is played 7-on-7, sideline to sideline instead of end zone to end zone. The flag fields are marked off at 35 yards wide, allowing for multiple games to be played simultaneously on one football field.
At Plum, co-coaches Fran Sciullo and Jim Horwatt recruit girls to the sport by emphasizing its rising popularity and the benefits of an organized team sport, building teamwork, resiliency, leadership and communication.