By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) made headlines late last week when its Board of Directors voted 61-1 to add girls flag football as a KSHSAA-sanctioned sport for the 2026-27 school year. But big decisions made in the spring do not always mean action in the fall. Great Bend High School Activities Director Matt Westerhaus said the school is still exploring options of adding a new activity.
“Really, we just need to see what interest, what everything entails, and make sure we’ve made the right decision moving forward,” he said. “It’s great to have opportunities for the kids, but we also want to make sure we don’t deplete other programs, especially team-type sports.”
Girls flag football will be played in the fall, complete with a KSHSAA state championship. The sport has been offered at the club level for five years, and 28 high schools in the state piloted new programs last year. The Greater Wichita Athletic League submitted a proposal to sanction the sport to the KSHSAA Board of Directors. Westerhaus said more local decisions will partially depend on what the other four schools in the Western Athletic Conference do.
"There are just a lot of questions,” Westerhaus said. “What impact does it have on other team sports that schools have in place? I think those are things we need to find out internally, and I know the WAC schools are finding out the answers to those questions as well.”
Westerhaus will meet with other WAC activities directors in a previously-scheduled meeting on May 6. Girls flag football will be among the many topics discussed.
Flag football has its own rulebook under the National Federation of State High School Associations. For the upcoming season, participating schools in Kansas may play between six and 10 games before the state tournament. Middle school teams are limited to six games a season. The 28 schools that piloted the sport last year averaged 24 athletes per roster.
Girls wrestling has been one of the fastest growing sports in the nation over the past several years. There is now a push for girls flag football, especially as the sport makes its debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. With last Thursday’s vote, Kansas became the 18th state to sanction girls flag football as an official high school sport.