Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The University of Illinois Springfield Athletics program thinks it’s on the ground floor of something that really big.

The university will be adding women’s flag football as a competitive sport starting in 2027, announced during a Wednesday news conference.  But, it won’t be a Great Lakes Valley Conference sport just yet.

“We’ll probably play a few years on independent status and schedule games,” said Mike Hermann, UIS Athletic Director.  ‘I’d love for us to play Illinois College and Millikin, and schools right in our vicinity, and start to develop some rivalries there.  Our (conference) athletic directors have been talking about it for the last year.  It’s on the agenda for next week…other schools are considering it as well.  I think very quickly you’ll see a few more.”

While there has been some interest in women’s flag football at UIS already, Hermann says that’s not what drove the decision.  It was the growing popularity of the sport nationwide, buoyed by sport from the National Football Leage, and individual teams like the Chicago Bears.

“The sport addition at a college level, particularly at a scholarship level, it doesn’t often bubble up from inside, like from intramurals or something,” said Hermann.  “There is an intramural program that is flag football here, but that’s not really the genesis of it.  It really is a thinking about who’s playing at this at a competitive level, that we can recruit, and may want to come to our institution.”

Hermann says a job posting has just been made for a full-time coach to be hired, and when developed, a roster of around 30 players is expected.*

Home games will be played at the outdoor fields of the new Scheel’s Sports Complex, as part of a partnership between UIS and the complex.