When the Dallas Cowboys launched a girls flag football league for high schools in March 2025, Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde committed all 22 of the district's high schools to it. On Monday, the sport those teams have been playing outside the UIL took its first formal step inside it.
The UIL Legislative Council approved girls flag football "in concept" as a pilot program. The pilot could start as soon as 2028-29 and would be limited to two classifications at most, and the league said it would gather more information on rules and guidelines for the council to take up at later meetings.
Like every rule the council passes, it also requires the state commissioner of education's sign-off.
What the vote did not settle is when the girls would play.
The calendar problem
"We will consider all 12 months of the calendar," Jamey Harrison, the UIL's executive director, said, according to The Dallas Morning News. He said he had heard arguments for late spring, early spring and fall.
Each option has a cost. UIL athletics director Ray Zepeda said a spring season would collide with the track and field postseason, and the league does not want to push athletes into choosing one sport, the News reported. A fall season would overlap football and volleyball at a time when the state is already short of officials.
The size of the pilot is also open. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that it is planned for Class 6A and 5A, with smaller schools able to opt in, and that districts would decide whether to join, with equipment and travel costs involved.
Who pays for it now
So far, the Cowboys and the Houston Texans have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars backing teams, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The Cowboys' league gave participating districts grant money for coaching stipends, uniforms and equipment, according to the team, which first worked with Fort Worth ISD on a pilot in 2022.
Susan Bohn, chair of the league's athletics standing committee, said that support helped the sport grow during a funding squeeze for Texas schools. "The NFL is not giving money to the UIL," Bohn said, according to the News. "But they would commit to some level of funding for some period of time for schools that want to start a flag program."
How many schools play depends on who is counting. Danny McCray, the Cowboys' director of youth football development, told the athletics committee on Sunday that 26 Texas high schools played in 2024 and 230 have joined since, the News reported. Brett Stewart, the Texans' director of youth development, put the figure at more than 250 schools and over 6,000 athletes, according to the Statesman.
The UIL proposal cited a survey in which 165 schools said they field teams and 52% of 6A and 5A superintendents backed sanctioning.
