Fewer than 24 hours after the inaugural season of the Jets ECAC Women's Flag Football League concluded as the Marymount Saints were crowned conference champions at 1 Jets Drive, the Jets were able to celebrate another historic step for women's athletics in New Jersey when the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) voted to officially sanction girls flag football as a varsity high school sport statewide.

The Goal Was Clear
The Jets initially supported New Jersey's first high school flag league in 2021, providing funding, equipment and organizational support for eight pioneering schools a single conference. Two years later, more than 100 schools in New Jersey were participating in girls flag football at the club or pilot level. By 2026, 140 high schools fielded teams statewide.

The Jets' supported conferences across North and Central Jersey experienced explosive growth in participation, marked by media days, tournaments, and state championship games at venues including MetLife Stadium, the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center and Kean University. These efforts not only highlighted the enthusiasm for girls football but built a compelling case for official approval as a varsity sport.

Throughout the pilot program, the Jets worked hand-in-hand with the NJSIAA and local athletic leaders to ensure success. The club provided critical resources such as uniforms, equipment grants, coaching clinics, and awards to recognize outstanding players and coaches each week.

The vote was a culmination of a five-year effort led by students, coaches, schools, and advocates who believed the game deserved equal standing.

Jets Played Meaningful Role in Building Awareness, Building Opportunities
Monday's vote marked the third time the Jets have helped drive the sanctioning of girls flag football as a varsity sport. In 2011, the Jets became the first NFL club to help launch girls flag football at the varsity level with the liftoff of a PSAL program in New York City. The PSAL flag program was sanctioned in 2012 and has expanded to 60 teams. New York state followed the Big Apple in 2024 and sanctioned girls flag statewide.

"The National Football League, specifically the New York Jets, has played a meaningful role in building awareness and expanding opportunities from the early stages, and that continued commitment has helped shape the strong foundation we see today," said Colleen E. Maguire, executive director of the NJSIAA. "We are excited to watch the continued growth of our newest sanctioned sport and continuing to increase opportunities for our girls."

Chairman Woody Johnson, team president Hymie Elhai and vice president of community relations Jesse Linder have encouraged girls flag football growth at all levels and with no boundaries. In March, the team announced the creation of Jets Flag Elite London and the return of Jets NFL Girls Flag League UK for Year 4. They also recently announced the expansion of the Jets NFL Girls Flag League in Dublin, Ireland, and participation has doubled for the 2026 edition following a successful first year. On Sunday, the ECAC wrapped up its first year of competition with the support of the Jets and a $1 million investment form the Betty Wold Johnson Foundation.

College pathways are growing as conferences build formal competition across multiple states, including the ECAC -- the nation's largest women's collegiate flag football league -- and more schools are investing in youth and middle‑school programs that strengthen the pipeline. Internationally, girls flag football continues to spread and is creating more places where athletes can start, develop, and compete.

It Is a Structural Shift
At present, there are approximately 4,200 girls playing the sport in New Jersey. With flag football set to debut as an Olympic sport in 2028, the Jets have always emphasized a path for girls in flag football. Now a girl in New Jersey can imagine her steps from high school to a college program, to a national team and then to the Olympic stage.

Varsity status unlocks sustainable funding, structured competition, dedicated coaching, and the long-term infrastructure that any serious sport requires. Nearly 160 New Jersey high schools are expected to field teams next season, a clear sign of a structural shift.

The Jets just had three players from the Jets Flag Elite 14U travel team -- Myla Ramos, 13, Kaitlyn Richards, 14, and Raz Colter, 13 -- participate in a United States National Team training camp in California.

"For Jets Flag Elite, it's credibility," said Mickey McDermott, the head coach of the Jets Elite Team who also has led Ridgewood HS to multiple New Jersey HS Flag Football Championships. "Having national team representation shows that what we're doing -- organizational structure, coaching, accountability and expectations -- is making avenues possible. Other NFL teams should see this as an example of what can happen when you invest wholeheartedly in girls and provide them with opportunities they may never have been able to experience -- because when you do it the right way, you don't just grow the game, you also change lives."

Movement Always Powered by Community
Lives were again changed on Monday with the sanctioning of girls flag football as a varsity sport in New Jersey. Johnson, who through his family's foundation and the Jets have contributed funding, grants, and long‑term support to help schools start or sustain teams — supporting more than 260 girls flag football teams, reaching more than over 7,000 young women each year, through more than $3.5 million in investment across the United States and abroad, is pleased to do his part. But he has maintained the momentum that has always come from the athletes who wanted to play and the adults who made space for them to do it.

The official sanctioning of girls flag football as a varsity high school sport in New Jersey is a win for a community of coaches, athletic directors, teachers, parents and student-athletes who would not be denied.