The Carolinas Women's Flag Football Championship opened Friday at Durham County Memorial Stadium, drawing eight college teams and families from as far as West Virginia for a weekend of competition that ends with Sunday's title game.
Brian Hodge drove four hours from West Virginia to watch his daughter, who plays for Mount St. Mary's. She had never touched a flag football before her college search led her to Mount St. Mary's, which recently launched a Division I program. "Watching all these young ladies that are so powerful and strong compete at this sport is incredible," Hodge said.
The bracket works quickly. Four teams advance from Friday's games to Saturday's two semifinals, and those winners meet Sunday for the championship.
Not every player came to the sport the same way. Parent Tammy Montalvo said her daughter has been playing since high school, noting that Las Vegas established girls' flag football programs back in 2016. But many parents said their daughters had no exposure to the game until college.
Marcus Manning, executive director of the Durham Sports Commission, said the city is seeing exponential growth in women's and girls' sports participation at the youth, college, and professional levels. More than 30 championships have been held at Memorial Stadium over the past few years. Manning said the commission is working to bring more sports at all levels to its fields.
Parent Deana Leibowitz put the larger ambition plainly: she hopes flag football eventually becomes a varsity high school sport in all 50 states.