Saskatoon athlete Ella Sowden wins NFL scholarship for U.S. college path

Ella Sowden of Saskatoon was named one of two recipients of the 2026 Women’s Flag Football International Scholarship, a June 24 award that pushed a Canadian player into one of the sport’s clearest college pathways in the United States. The RCX Sports Foundation announced the scholarship with support from the NFL, and Sowden joined Laura Hernández Sánchez of Spain as this year’s honorees.

The program, launched in 2024, gives elite international athletes financial assistance and mentorship as they pursue collegiate flag football opportunities in the United States. Recipients are chosen for athletic achievement, leadership, character, community impact and a commitment to growing the game. The original rollout called for four scholarships for female student-athletes from Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Asia, and applicants must be admitted to a U.S.-based college or university that offers women’s flag football as a varsity sport.

Sowden’s award lands at a moment when the Canadian pipeline is starting to take shape. U SPORTS announced on June 3 that women’s flag football will become a pilot sport beginning in the 2027-28 season, a move that formalizes another rung in the domestic pathway. Football Canada already fields a senior women’s flag national team that competes internationally, including at the IFAF Flag Football World Championship, which is held every two years.

Her selection also fits the pace of growth south of the border. NFL Play Football says more than 100 colleges and universities across the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA offered women’s flag football in spring 2025, while more than 35 U.S. states are offering or piloting sanctioned girls high school flag football programs. That scale matters because the scholarship requires an actual varsity landing spot, not just interest in the sport.

In a Saskatchewan radio interview on June 24, Sowden described the award as a surprise, underscoring how quickly a regional standout can move into a global recruiting lane. The bigger backdrop is even larger: flag football will debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, and Olympics.com estimates the sport is played by 20 million people in more than 100 countries. The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama helped give women’s flag football a broader international stage, and Sowden’s path shows that the next wave of serious opportunities is no longer confined to the traditional U.S. hotbeds.