Romeoville, Ill. – The Lewis University athletic department unveiled the addition of women's flag football as the Flyers newest varsity sport. The women's flag football program will begin competition in 2026-27.
This elevates the Lewis athletic department to 23 total programs.
"We're excited to announce the addition of women's flag football to Lewis Athletics" said assistant vice president for athletics
John Ashaolu. "The sport's popularity has surged in Illinois and across the Midwest, creating a strong pool of talented student-athletes ready to compete at a high level. Lewis is built on a championship culture, and this investment reflects our commitment to building a national contender and pursuing championships in this sport just as we have in others."
Women's flag football received an NCAA emerging sport recommendation earlier this year and Lewis becomes the first Division II school in Illinois and seventh school overall in the Land of Lincoln to add women's flag football. Within the Chicagoland area, they join Divison III schools Benedictine, Aurora and North Park as the only four collegiate institutions to sponsor the sport.
Alongside unprecedented growth of women's flag football across the nation, 224 Illinois high schools sponsor flag football according to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Since 2022, the IHSA has seen the sport go from just 22 teams to now 224 with girls flag football officially being sanctioned by the IHSA in 2024. Additionally, five of the top 25 teams in the nation for girls flag football reside in the Chicagoland area with Willowbrook (4th), Glenbrook South (9th), Main South (15th), Carmel (16th) and King (24th) making Illinois a hot bed for the sport.
"We are excited to add Women's Flag Football to our roster of sports" said Lewis president Dr. David Livingston. "As one of the fastest growing sports in the NCAA, we believe that it will be another area of excellence within Flyer athletics."
This marks the first sport expansion for Lewis since the Flyers added STUNT ahead of the 2024-25 athletic year.
Lewis is also currently undergoing a national search for a head coach/coordinator of internal operations. For those interested in applying visit:
https://jobs.lewisu.edu/postings/11970
For the latest news and updates on Lewis athletics, visit LewisFlyers.com and follow the Flyers on social media at @golewisflyers on Instagram and @LewisFlyers on X.
