NY Jets, Nike Launch Girls Flag Football Teams Across Long Island

LONG ISLAND, NY — Starting this spring, there will be a new game in towns across Long Island. The New York Jets and Nike are sponsoring girls flag football teams across Long Island and New Jersey, creating 16 new teams across Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The creation of the teams is part of an effort across New York and New Jersey to create a girls flag football league. The Jets sponsored eight teams in New Jersey last year, and is expanding to sponsor 42 teams across New Jersey and Long Island this year.

In addition, the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants are sponsoring teams upstate, bringing the total teams in New York to 48.

“This is an historic day for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) as we are able to initiate something in our state that has never been done before thanks to a partnership with the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants and New York Jets,” said Dr. Robert Zayas, NYSPHSAA executive director. “We are grateful and excited to partner with the Bills, Giants and Jets to provide beneficial participation opportunities for female high school student-athletes in our state.”

The 16 schools that were selected to participate will receive grants from the Jets and Nike to start up their teams, as well as uniforms and equipment.

The participating schools are:

Nassau Division

• Freeport
• Hempstead
• Locust VAlley
• Long Beach
• Lynbrook
• Massapequa
• Plainview-Old Bethpage
• West Hempstead

Suffolk Division

• Amityville
• Center Moriches
• Huntington Station
• Longwood
• North Babylon
• Sachem East
• Sachem North
• Ward Melville

The teams will play six to eight games this spring, with the season running from April until the end of May. The games will be 7-on-7 and played on a regulation-size field, with rules established by the NYSPHSAA and the NFL. The local sections will be able to choose if they have championships or not. Eventually, it can become a full varsity sport.

The teams will be a pilot program this spring, with the goal of earning "emerging sport" status the next year. Emerging sport, the NYSPHYSAA says, is when four sections have at least four or more teams in the sport. When that happens, a state committee is then formed to request approval to form a regional championship.

"The expansion of our girls flag football league brings us one step closer to our goal of having the sport adopted as an official varsity sport in both New York and New Jersey in order to continue providing young women with the opportunity to grow and excel on the field and in their daily lives," said Jesse Linder, the Jets vice president of community relations.