Thanks to a $6,000 grant from the Kansas City Chiefs, Bishop Miege has launched its first girls flag football team, marking a new chapter in the school’s athletic history. With more than 40 girls participating across both a JV and varsity squad, the club sport has already proven popular in its inaugural season.
The grant is part of a larger NFL and USA Football initiative to grow girls flag football, especially at the high school level.
“Each NFL team has their logistical territory, and naturally we fall under the Chiefs umbrella,” head coach Kevin Neenan said. “The money has been used for equipment, uniforms and administrative costs like insurance. It has been helpful, and we’ll even have some leftover to help with next year’s expenses.”
Miege is one of nearly 30 schools across Kansas and Missouri now fielding teams, including Olathe East, Mill Valley, Wichita-area schools and Saint Thomas Aquinas. For now, the sport is considered a club activity, but interim president Joe Schramp expects it will soon become an official Kansas State High School Activities Association sport.
“It gives girls another opportunity to just grow in a sport that’s predominantly been male-heavy,” Schramp said.
On the field, girls’ flag football features some key rule differences from tackle football: teams play seven-on-seven instead of 11, and the field is slightly smaller at 80 yards long by 40 yards wide. Otherwise, the game looks very similar.
Neenan said the team dynamic has been inspiring.
“We have a great group of girls. For some of them, this is a brand new sport, and they didn’t realize how good they were at it,” he said. “We’re building bricks for the future as well as a foundation this year. The girls respect each other, they’re great teammates, and we as coaches feel lucky to be part of it.”
Players share that enthusiasm. Junior Maiya Contreras said being part of the program’s first season has been a special experience. She has enjoyed making new connections and hopes the program will “grow and prosper throughout the years.”
“I’m happy to be a part of a team that’s brand new, and to be the pioneers for a new part of Miege,” Contreras said.
Girls’ flag football is also part of a much larger movement. According to the International Federation of American Football, 2.4 million kids under 17 already play organized flag football in the United States, and the sport is set to debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Neenan called it “the fastest-growing sport in the U.S.” and added that recent Chiefs success has fueled even more local interest.
“I call it the Patrick Mahomes effect,” Neenan said.
