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By Chelsea Lenora Small
Forward Times Associate Publisher
and Editor-in-Chief
www.forwardtimes.com

High school football has always been a cornerstone of Texas culture. Friday nights, packed stands, community pride. It’s a tradition that has shaped generations. Now, for the first time, that tradition is expanding in a way that feels long overdue.

This June, the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans will come together to host the first-ever Girls Flag Football Texas State Championship at DATCU Stadium on the campus of University of North Texas. The two-day tournament will bring together the top teams from both organizations’ girls flag football leagues, all competing for a title that has never existed before in this state.

And while there will be a champion crowned, that’s not the full story.

What’s happening here is bigger than a game.

Texas Is About to Crown Its First Girls Flag Football State Champion

For years, girls across Texas have been playing football without the same structure, visibility, or support that has long existed for boys. That’s starting to change. Since 2016, the National Football League and its partners have been working to grow girls flag football nationwide. Today, more than 500,000 girls between the ages of 6 and 17 are playing the sport across the country, and 17 states have already sanctioned it at the varsity level.

Texas is not one of them. Not yet.

But momentum is building.

Between the Cowboys and Texans, more than 200 scholastically based varsity girls flag football teams have already been established across the state. This championship is the clearest signal yet that the infrastructure is here. The talent is here. The demand is here.

Now it’s about recognition.

“This is about opening doors,” said Charlotte Jones, Chief Brand Officer and Co-Owner of the Cowboys. “It’s about celebrating talent and growing football for a whole new generation of young women.”

That sentiment is echoed in Houston. Hannah McNair, Chief Community Officer for the Texans, framed the moment as part of a larger pathway being built for young athletes.

“When our high school girls take the field, it will be another example of what’s possible,” McNair said. “We know football changes lives.”

That pathway is becoming more real by the day.

In January 2026, the NCAA officially added women’s flag football to its Emerging Sports for Women program, putting it on track toward championship status. That move joins a growing list of opportunities at the collegiate level, including programs across the NAIA, NJCAA, and HBCUs. Scholarships are expanding. Visibility is growing. The ceiling is rising.

And looking ahead, the sport is set to debut on one of the biggest stages in the world at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

That means the girls taking the field this June in Denton are not just playing for a trophy. They are stepping into a pipeline that didn’t exist just a few years ago.

Still, for all the progress, one major piece remains.

Sanctioning.

Both the Cowboys and Texans have made it clear that this championship is part of a broader push for the University Interscholastic League to officially recognize girls flag football as a sanctioned high school sport. That designation would bring funding, structure, and long-term sustainability to programs across Texas, ensuring that what is being built right now doesn’t stall.

Because what’s happening is not temporary.

It’s foundational.

The championship itself will be free and open to the public, giving communities a chance to see firsthand what the future of football in Texas can look like. Fast-paced, competitive, and filled with athletes who have been waiting for this moment.

For a state that prides itself on football, this is a shift worth paying attention to.

Not because it’s new.

But because it should have been here all along.

And now, it finally is.