UIL eyes flag football pilot and expands playoff home field advantage in rules changes

The University Interscholastic League made multiple decisions Monday that will impact the future of high school sports in Texas.

The legislative council for the state’s governing body for high school sports approved proposals that allowed the higher seed to host the first round of postseason games for numerous sports as well as set a plan for development of girls flag football to become a pilot sport beginning as early as the 2028-29 school year.

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These proposals, as well as many others, were voted on at a meeting Monday at the Westin Austin Domain hotel. Each of the green-lit suggestions will need to be approved by the Commissioner of Education before they go into effect.

Here’s what was passed:

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Postseason home games for first round expanded

Only in Class 5A and 6A football games does the higher-seeded team receive a home-field advantage in the opening round of the postseason, with all other sports being played at a neutral site. However, that will likely change soon. Beginning next school year, the team with the higher district finish in the first round of the playoffs in all football classifications, as well as basketball, soccer, team tennis and girls volleyball, will have the option to host a game or mutually agree to a neutral site.

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Girls flag football pilot could come as soon as 2028-29

The legislative council also approved the development of girls flag football “in concept” to debut as a pilot program as soon as the 2028-29 school year. The council will gather additional information for rules and guidelines for the sport and make further decisions at future legislative council meetings.

The pilot program is slated to debut with no more than two classifications.

Girls flag football has skyrocketed nationwide. The sport will debut at the 2028 Olympics, a growing number of NCAA programs are adding the sport to its portfolio and 25 states already sanction the sport. The NFL has been one of the biggest players in the nationwide growth of the sport, including in Texas, where both the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into supporting teams. The two franchises hosted the first Texas girls flag football state championship in the spring.

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Brett Stewart, the director of youth development for the Houston Texans, said there’s more than 250 schools playing flag football now and more than 6,000 athletes participating in the sport.

Locally, schools from Austin and Round Rock have both picked up the sport, with many finding success.

Stewart hopes Monday’s UIL decision is the next step in growing flag football in the football-crazed Lone Star state.

“We want to make sure the programs that are interested in being a part of the girls flag have the opportunity and have the resources to do so,” he said. “We definitely think that with the UIL’s support, it’s going to continue to grow because people see that it’s going to be an official sport. So we’re excited about that.”

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This article originally published at UIL eyes flag football pilot and expands playoff home field advantage in rules changes.