Girls flag football began in many areas of California in Fall 2023. In the two years of competition, Hollister’s teams have excelled.
The fall 2024 squad won the Pacific Coast Athletic League, Gabilan Division title with a 13-1 record and was 19-6 overall. Although several senior stars graduated, a host of underclassmen return. And they will likely see some new rules as the sport has begun to mature.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the preeminent rules makers that most states follow, recently published its first set of rules for girls flag football.
Participation in girls flag football has increased from 20,875 participants in 2022-23 to 42,955 in 2024-25.
Sixteen states sanction girls flag football and 18 more have independent or pilot programs. The NFHS’ committee began to describe rules on place kicking, size of field, first down zones, hash marks and measurement of flags.
“The popularity of flag football—for boys and girls—has been growing at the youth levels for the past 10 years,” NFHS CEO Dr. Karissa Niehoff said. “In 2023, about 500,000 girls ages 6-17 played flag football—a 63% increase since 2019. At a higher level of competition, more universities are beginning to offer flag football for girls, which will certainly enhance the appeal for girls playing the sport at the high school level.
“And internationally, the sport received a huge boost with the addition of flag football as an Olympic sport for men and women at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.”
Niehoff added that the NFHL looked to define rules for the high school game and standardize procedures around the country.
The first book features rules governing the 7-on-7 player game, and provides three options for size of the field, including the choice of a regulation 11-player high school football field.
There are 18 other rules to be determined by state adoption, including the establishment of rules regarding place kicking for field goals and tries (points after touchdowns).
States utilizing NFHS flag football rules also will have the option, among others, to determine the number of game officials, authorize the use of goals, authorize the use of a kicking tee, authorize the use of hash marks and determine the style of flag to be used and the measurements of the flag, although the flag cannot be below a described detailed minimum.
While the rules for flag football closely follow NFHS football rules, the rules regarding obtaining a first down are different. Instead of advancing the ball to the line to gain, a first down is awarded in flag football when a team advances the ball to the zone to gain.
Zones are described in the NFHS Flag Football Rules Book: “the zone to gain is the next 20- or 40-yard line in advance of the ball’s foremost point when a new series of downs is awarded. When a new series of downs is awarded, the penalties for all fouls committed prior to the ready-for-play shall be administered before the zone to gain is established. The zone to gain then remains fixed until the series ends and a new zone to gain is established.”
NFHS flag football rules that mirror traditional high school football rules include four 12-minute quarters and point values of six for a touchdown and three for a field goal, if kicking rules are adopted by the state association.
Hollister flag football 2025
Baler senior stars Jasayla Mariscal, Jayden Osborne, Bianca Guerra and others have graduated. Yet Hollister’s recent success included many underclassmen, who are likely to return.
Ava Garcia, who will be a rising senior, excelled at quarterback, completing 226-of-350 passes for 2,523 yards and 34 touchdowns. Briella Perham, a rising sophomore, rushed 11 times for 87 yards. Perham also caught 29 passes for 358 yards. Ixiim De Luna, also a rising sophomore, pulled in 40 passes for 408 yards.
The Baler schedule features a double round-robin in league play and a few tournaments. All single games begin at 5:45pm and tournaments start at 9am. Action begins on Sept. 1 versus Carmel and continues with games against Alisal, King City, Monterey, Palma, Salinas, St. Francis and Watsonville.
The back half of the round robin kicks off on Oct. 1. Tournaments are on the schedule at Milpitas on Sept. 13 and at Harbor on Oct. 4.
