Girls flag football numbers are rising in McHenry County area: ‘It’s one of the fastest-growing sports’

Dominic Pearson is a three-sport coach.

He’s had a hand in launching both the girls lacrosse and boys bowling programs at Burlington Central. He’s coached tackle football for six years, working under the school’s head varsity coach, Brian Iossi.

During the summer, Pearson learned Central would be adding a new sport: girls flag football. He immediately volunteered for the job and now leads 35 girls at the varsity and JV levels. Central, which became the 10th and final member of the Fox Valley Conference to offer the sport, is one of the latest schools in the area to catch on.

“I started two programs at Central, and this was another opportunity where it was too good to pass up,” Pearson said. “I knew the interest was going to be there from our school, and having the experience of starting two other programs, I thought I could step in and definitely make something work. We had a huge amount of interest going in.”

The IHSA announced its adoption of girls flag football in February 2024. Four area schools (Dundee-Crown, Hampshire, Jacobs and McHenry) competed in the inaugural state series. Six more area schools (Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South, Harvard, Huntley and Prairie Ridge) participated last season.

Now, Central joins Woodstock, Woodstock North and even Alden-Hebron, which has an enrollment of 98 students according to the IHSA website, as the latest area schools to get involved. Despite being a first-year program, participation hasn’t been an issue at Central. Pearson said 85 girls signed up for fall tryouts in August.

Burlington Central joined the growing number of McHenry County-area schools to offer girls flag football at the high school level. The Rockets, who are coached by Dominic Pearson, currently roster 35 girls across varsity and JV. (Dominic Pearson)

“The overall excitement around it has been amazing,” Pearson said. “We’ve had a bunch of support from our community, and we’re off to a good start. Flag football, it’s one of the fastest-growing sports for girls at the moment, and its growing popularity led our district to tag on. ... I could feel the surrounding excitement over flag football.”

The Rockets earned their program’s first win Aug. 26, shutting out Larkin. Woodstock co-op, which rosters a combined 40 girls from Woodstock and Woodstock North, defeated Prairie Ridge on Sept. 5 for its first-ever victory. Jon Brown, a two-time state champion quarterback at Providence, is the program’s head coach.

“We learned a lot with how they officiate games and how aggressive we can be and not be,” Brown said. “It’s almost like coaching youth where you’ve got to teach them everything from their stance to how to catch the ball and throw the ball. We’re keeping it simple.”

More than 40 girls attended informational meetings at Woodstock and Woodstock North in January. The co-op plays an independent schedule, squaring off with teams from the FVC as well as teams from the Rockford area and Lake County. Brown’s staff includes Bobby Mickey, a former assistant for Robbie Gould at St. Viator.

“There were some girls reaching out to our district office two years ago when it was first getting bigger in McHenry County,” said Brown, who’s coached tackle football in Woodstock and Tinley Park. “The school board and district have just been extremely supportive with providing me with the funds we need. We got 50 brand new Nike jerseys and nice Riddell flags that match our color scheme.”

Woodstock co-op's girls flag football program, which rosters a combined 40 players from Woodstock and Woodstock North, is one of multiple new teams in the McHenry County area to take the field this fall. (Jon Brown)

Among the habits players can learn from flag football is film study. Like most tackle football teams, Brown said his team uses Hudl and drone technology to record and study film. Many flag football players compete in other sports such as soccer, softball and basketball, which is one sport Brown said bears similarities to flag football.

“It’s just a team sport,” said Brown, a former assistant girls track coach at Woodstock. “You’ll see a push pass and any type of lateral. To me, it’s almost like basketball on grass with two more on each side. We use our tailback to block, and it’s like basketball trying to set screens, keep their hands behind their backs and slide their feet.”

A future goal for Brown is to build the program out to three levels. The Woodstock Jr. Streaks are a primary feeder program for the co-op, which started the season with 44 players on varsity and JV.

Alden-Hebron, despite its small enrollment, has 14 varsity girls on its roster. Jacob Lesus, who played football at McHenry and Knox College, is the team’s head coach. Like Woodstock co-op, A-H plays an independent schedule that includes Harvard and Prairie Ridge.

“The girls are excited,” Lesus said. “They love getting out there and competing. We scrimmaged McHenry, and it was a JV game. It was our first drive; we scored on the first drive, and the girls just went ballistic on our first touchdown. They realized all the work they put in all summer, and they realized they knew what they were doing.”

A-H, which plays 8-man tackle football, saw interest in girls flag football stem from the school’s annual homecoming powderpuff game last October. Eighteen girls, or about 50% of A-H’s female student population, attended an informational meeting last winter. Lesus then pitched the sport to school officials, who all approved.

“We took it to the school board,” Lesus said. “I made a pitch, and they OK’d it. The athletic director OK’d it. Our principal OK’d it and our superintendent, everyone cleared it. I got us some funding from a local woman-owned business, and we got it going in the summer. We got brand new balls, brand new flags and equipment.”

Alden-Hebron's girls flag football team has 14 players on its varsity roster. The Giants are coached by Jacob Lesus, who played tackle football at McHenry and Knox College. (Jacob Lesus)

According to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations, participation numbers in girls flag football are up 48.7% (68,847 to 102,360 athletes) from the 2025-25 school year. That followed a 60% increase from the previous school year.

Since the first post-pandemic survey conducted by the NFHS in 2021–22, participation has skyrocketed from 15,716 to 102,360, an increase of about 551%. The number of schools reporting girls flag football participation rose from 2,736 to 3,990 in the past year.

Thirty-seven states will be either sanctioning girls flag football or conducting independent/pilot programs by next year, per the NFHS. In the McHenry County area, only Johnsburg, Marengo, Richmond-Burton, Marian Central and Trinity Oaks are without flag teams.

“I think football, especially in America, has been such a cultural identity for so many people,” Lesus said. “So many people watch football. It’s definitely the most popular sport, and for the longest time, it was always just boys. Occasionally, you’d have girls on the team, but it felt separated. When you get girls who are passionate about it, it’s only a matter of time before we give them a chance.”

Increased participation has led to increased success in the area. In 2024, Jacobs became the area’s first team to win an IHSA regional championship. Cary-Grove followed with a regional championship last season, while McHenry and Huntley made it to regional title games.

Aubrina Adamik, the 2026 Northwest Herald Girls Athlete of the Year and 2025 Girls Flag Football Player of the Year, was named an all-state first-team selection by the Chicago Bears. The Bears have helped elevate the sport, launching a girls flag football pilot program in 2021, with 22 Chicago Public League teams participating.

Four years later, 226 teams and more than 6,500 girls competed in the 2025 IHSA season. This fall, Crystal Lake Central (7-0), Crystal Lake South (7-1), McHenry (6-1) and Dundee-Crown (8-1) are all off to hot starts. A-H scored its first varsity points against Harvard on Aug. 28 and earned its first varsity win over Phillips on Aug. 29.

“The girls are taking their chance, and they’re running with it,” Lesus said. “I encourage any school to give it a shot. We’ve got 14 girls, the parents are on board, and they love to see these opportunities.”