Annika Sörenstam backs NFL push as Kansas expands girls flag football

Kansas’ 61-1 vote to sanction girls flag football put Annika Sörenstam’s backing of the NFL push into one of the country’s newest high school pipelines. The Hall of Fame golfer said the league’s attention is helping the sport gain legitimacy and momentum, and Kansas is now the 18th state to make that support real at the school level.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association board approved girls flag football on April 23, 2026, and the sport is set to begin in the 2026-27 school year. Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said the decision will make it possible for so many girls across Kansas to play flag football, a straightforward sign that this is moving beyond promotion and into actual access.

That distinction matters because the NFL is building a layered strategy, not just a messaging campaign. Sörenstam has worked with the league on women-focused initiatives before, and her latest support gives the effort a recognizable face from outside football. When one of the most familiar names in women’s sports says the league’s focus is helping girls flag football grow, it adds credibility in a way a press release never could.

The pathway is also getting clearer at the top end. LA28 says flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles with six-team men’s and women’s tournaments. NFL clubs voted on May 20, 2025, to allow NFL players to participate in flag football at those Games, tying the youth game directly to the Olympic stage in Los Angeles.

The visibility push is broader than Kansas and the Olympics. ESPN said the 2025 NFL FLAG Championships would air from July 18 to July 20 on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ and Disney+, putting top youth boys and girls in front of a far larger audience. That kind of exposure, paired with state sanctioning and school-based participation, is the clearest evidence yet that girls flag football is being treated less like a side project and more like a long-term sport with room to grow.