When collegiate women's flag football players take the field for the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) championship this coming May, they will be competing for a title that carries more meaning than the result on the field.
The first-of-its-kind championship tournament, which will be played at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Facility in 2026 and at MetLife Stadium beginning in 2027, will close out the inaugural season of the ECAC women's flag football league. The league, which will be the largest of its kind at the collegiate level, will be launched this spring with the support of the New York Jets and a $1 million investment from the Betty Wold Johnson Foundation.
"Empowering young women through football has always been central to our mission," said Jets Chairman Woody Johnson. "Partnering with the ECAC to launch this league creates a clear pathway for student-athletes to compete, grow, and lead—on the field and beyond."
"The Jets, by far, were the most fired up to potentially take the next step, and so ultimately, they just rose to the top," said Dan Coonan, Commissioner and CEO of the ECAC. "And we focused everything we were doing on them, and it's been a great relationship."
We're Taking the Next Step
For over a decade, the Jets have been at the forefront of creating opportunities for young women in the sport. In 2011, the organization became the first NFL Club to help launch girls flag football at the varsity level with the launch of a PSAL league in New York City. The PSAL has expanded to 60 teams. Then in 2021, the Jets and Nike launched the first high school girls flag league in New Jersey. More than 260 girls' flag teams have been funded with 7,500 girls participating. Girls flag became a varsity sport in New York in 2024 and is set to become a varsity sport in New Jersey in 2026.
"The Jets ECAC Women's Flag Football League builds on the success of our high school girls' flag program, which opened doors for thousands of athletes across the region," Mr. Johnson said. "Now, we're taking the next step: collegiate play, Olympic dreams, and a future professional league."
The ECAC, an 80-year-old organization that boasts over 200 members across all three NCAA divisions, sponsors championships, leagues, bowl games, tournaments and other competitions throughout the Northeast. The conference has prided itself on recent efforts to sponsor competitions and leagues for sports that do not fall under the umbrella of the NCAA, and women's flag football presented an opportunity simply too good to pass up.
"We're in the business of seeking new opportunities and just trying to provide value wherever we can," Coonan said.
History in the Making
Ten schools spanning five states have committed to participation in the inaugural season of ECAC women's flag football, set to begin on Feb. 27, 2026, with a league media day at MetLife Stadium. Five additional schools have committed to the 2027 season.
"When my coach told me, I think I did cartwheels," said Sierra Wishnefsky, a fourth-year flag football student-athlete at Penn State Schuylkill. "Now that the Jets are kind of taking us under their wing, it is just something so heartwarming, exciting and inspirational. You have an NFL name backing you, and it's just so exciting that I get to play at this level."
Penn State Schuylkill, one of the schools that will compete in the league's opening season, just introduced women's flag football to its athletic department in 2025. Wishnefsky, who grew up playing the game with her four brothers, said she didn't even have the opportunity to participate in an organized version of the sport until the team was established.
Wishnefsky is not alone in her experience. Amanda Ruller, head coach of women's flag football at Eastern University, started the club team from scratch just earlier this year. And Ruller herself, who played women's tackle football for Team Canada, never had an opportunity to compete at the collegiate level.
"I told them, you guys were part of history in the making," Ruller said of the message to her athletes. "And now, being part of this league makes them feel like they're part of something even bigger than themselves. This is all these women have ever wanted -- to belong to something bigger than themselves. It's so cool that the NFL and the Jets are behind a groundbreaking movement like this."
Funding from the Betty Wold Johnson Foundation will be distributed to schools to support staff members, travel, officials, uniforms and other administrative needs, and Dan Coonan said programs at all stages of development -- including those starting from scratch -- will benefit.
"The schools that are with us, so many of them, that funding from the foundation was the triggering point to have them launch flag football," Coonan said.
But for women such as Wishnefsky and Ruller, the funding only tells part of the story. The name recognition, along with the opportunity to play a championship tournament at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center (and at MetLife Stadium beginning in 2027), will provide youth players everywhere with the opportunity to dream big from a young age.
"I couldn't imagine being a little girl and seeing, 'they're playing in a league sponsored by the New York Jets, an NFL team,'" Wishnefsky said. "Just having the name there -- this conference is going to open so many doors."
Connect All Levels of the Pathway
Those doors could lead to places far beyond the realm of collegiate competition. The International Olympic Committee announced the debut of men's and women's flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, and opportunities provided by a league such as the ECAC could bridge the gap between youth and national competition.
"We're starting to connect all levels of the pathway," said Callie Brownson, the Jets' Flag Football Advisor. "Creating an intentional and structured lineage and pathway for the young girls and young women who want to seek this throughout the duration of a career is super important."
Brownson, who began her career as a scouting intern with the Jets, has been breaking barriers for women in the sport for nearly a decade.
"The Jets were my first NFL job and really a launching point for my career and my growth. … I'm really excited that this is the group that wants to do it, because I think that the investment from this organization in women in football, just in a general capacity, has been there for a long time," she said. "So, this seems like a seamless opportunity and initiative to come from a group that's been active in the space for a long time."
Women Are in the Driver's Seat to Grow This Sport
Before transitioning into her senior director of high performance and national team operations role at USA Football – the organization responsible for selecting, training and leading Team USA Football in international competitions, including the 2028 Olympic Games – Callie Brownson held positions as chief of staff and assistant wide receivers coach over five years spent with the Cleveland Browns. A former national team member, Brownson said a league such as the ECAC would have dramatically impacted her playing career -- but she also stressed the positive ramifications it could have on women pursuing professional careers in football.
"What you're doing is providing more opportunities for young women to play the game at higher levels, but you're also creating opportunities for them to think about their life outside of the field around the game of football," Brownson said. "Don't be surprised when you see more women flooding into the coaching pipelines because they've had access to the sport for longer and at higher levels."
Amanda Ruller added: "If they can see it, they can be it. I think when a big NFL team such as the Jets says, 'I want to be involved in this,' it sends a message to the community that everyone can be involved in sports, and women actually are in the driver's seat to grow this sport and be part of it."
As players and coaches alike prepare for the inaugural season of ECAC competition, their focus will be on the opportunities that await them on the field. But the positive impact on the landscape of women's flag football for years to come cannot be overstated.
"When I get a little bit older, five to ten years from now, I can go back and start coaching these girls," Sierra Wishnefsky said. "I can take my experience and my knowledge and give it back into my community and really show them what women can do."
