MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College Director of Athletics Joe Bergin announced the addition of women's flag football as the College's 22nd varsity sport. A national search for the program's inaugural head coach will begin immediately, with the team scheduled to begin competition in the spring of 2028.
 
"We are excited for the creation of our Flag Football program," Bergin said. "The sport is on the rise, and I am happy that the administration has given us the go ahead to start the program. It is going to be fun to see where this sport goes."
 
With the support of the NFL, women's flag football is one of the fastest growing sports across the country. Continued growth is expected after flag football was added to the 2028 Summer Olympics and the NCAA list of emerging sports. The NCAA anticipates establishing a National Collegiate Championship for flag football at its annual convention this January. 
 
Recent data shows that there are more than 230 collegiate club and varsity programs across the country at all levels. Flag football is a sanctioned championship sport at the high school level in Ohio and Pennsylvania. National Federation of State High School Associations 2025-26 participation data shows 3,990 schools played girls flag football with a total of 102,360 participants nationally. Ohio had 108 schools participating, while Pennsylvania had 147.
 
With the addition of women's flag football, Marietta will sponsor 22 varsity programs including: baseball, basketball (men's and women's), cross country (men's and women's), Esports (coed), football, golf (men's and women's), lacrosse (men's and women's), rowing (men's and women's), soccer (men's and women's), softball, indoor track (men's and women's), outdoor track (men's and women's), and volleyball.
 
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on X and Instagram.