8-25-2026 4:05am

Flag Football Begins

How Flag Football Came to be in Baltimore County

Dulaney High School is fielding its first girls team for Maryland's inaugural state-sanctioned high school season this fall.

VIDEO HERE

By CSN Network

Over summer break, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA), adopted flag football as a sanctioned sport for Maryland public high schools.

The sport of flag football was, unbeknownst to many, believed to be founded in Maryland. The sport began, according to Under Armour, during World War II and was used as a diversion from the conflict as a safer alternative to tackle football. The first documented game occurred in 1940 at Fort Meade, an army base in Anne Arundel County

Twenty-five years later, the National Touch Football League (NTFL) was founded in St. Louis, and in 1971, the NTFL had its first championship game. While the championship winning team is unknown, the now renamed United States Flag Touch League (USFTL), consisted of six teams.

1974 saw the first official sanctioned flag football tournament for women. That tournament was run by the United States Flag Football Association (USFFA) and consisted of four regional teams from Akron and Cleveland, Ohio. Twenty years later, the NFL got in on the action.

It was the New England Patriots who hosted the first flag football camp of any team in the league. The camp, held at Foxboro Stadium, taught children how to play flag football. By the early 2000s, athletes from across the country were participating in the sport, ranging from local park programs to Boys and Girls Clubs according to NFL Flag.

As of today, NFL Flag reports that the organization has over 830,000 participants, making it the fastest growing youth sport in the world. Currently, over 1,800 leagues exist across all 50 states.

That takes us to flag football in Maryland high schools.

The MPSSAA launched the flag football pilot program in 2023 exclusively in Frederick County. FCPS’ ten high schools competed throughout the season, leading to a championship game between the Middletown Knights and the Oakdale Bears. As of 2026, the sport that initially consisted of 10 teams had grown to 130 schools across 10 counties.

Since the state announced that flag football would become a sanctioned sport, making Maryland the 19th state to do so, both the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Commanders have each committed over $1 million to help grow the sport across Maryland.

Upon the MPSSAA announcement in late April, the association set out rules for how the game would be played in its member schools.

Games will be played FINISH READING HERE