Flag football’s popularity is rising. When an SDSU freshman couldn’t find a place to play, she decided to fill the gap

A state championship-winning receiver and defensive back at a high school just outside Seattle, San Diego State freshman Lauren Tanner arrived on campus late last summer hoping to keep playing flag football. The problem: there was nowhere to play. “I’ve played sports my whole life — softball,” Tanner said. “But I found flag football to be the most fun. I just fell in love with it.” Tanner searched for a club team at SDSU and explored city leagues, but nothing fit. After a call with her father, she decided to build something herself. “Why don’t we just start a team here — build it from the ground up,” she said. “That’s when I started researching how to actually do it.” What followed was a months-long effort to create the first women’s flag football student organization in San Diego State history. That meant navigating university approval, finding a faculty adviser — her information systems professor Chris O’Byrne — recruiting players and securing coaches and equipment. “You have to get approved and put in an application to become a student org,” Tanner said. “Then things work their way up from there.” She started with visibility. In January, Tanner launched an Instagram account — @sdsuwomensflagfb — and began posting to gauge interest. Flyers went up across campus, even as some had to be replaced. “The response was better than I expected,” she said. “We started with zero followers. I was putting posters up a few times a week. They’d get taken down, and I’d just put them back up.” 'One Battle After Another' filmed in San Diego and won multiple Oscars. 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Head coach Jennifer Constuble first learned about the team through her daughter, another SDSU freshman. She and assistant coach Jeremy Clemons eventually reached out via social media. Constuble has coached flag football for more than two decades, beginning with the NFL’s grassroots program in 2003 in Victorville. She later helped develop one of the early NCAA Division I women’s flag football programs at Alabama State and has spent the past four years with the flag team at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Riverside. Just the essentials, every morning Our daily newsletter has a new look. Sign up to get San Diego’s top stories delivered straight to your inbox. Email Address Sign up By clicking sign up, you agree to the terms. Get Mission Times Courier in your inbox – community news that connects and informs. Sign up to get free Navajo and College Area news weekly – along with the Times of San Diego daily at 8 a.m. and breaking news. Update at any time. By clicking sign up, you agree to the terms. Email address SIGN UP Clemons is the offensive coordinator with Carlsbad High School’s flag football program. At Constuble’s first practice with the new SDSU team, she spotted a familiar face: Quarterback Abby White — whom she had coached against at Santiago High School, a rival of Roosevelt. ADVERTISING “I was like, ‘Hey, so you’re still rolling out to the right and looking for the go?’” Constuble said with a laugh. “These kids have already played, and they know they love the game. They really want to be part of it.” They aren’t alone. According to the International Federation of American Football, 2.4 million youths under 17 are taking part in organized flag football in the U.S. There are now world championships for the sport and both the U.S. men and women triumphed at the three last events, in 2018, 2021 and 2024. And finally, flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 games in Los Angeles. The NFL also collaborated with 12 states, California included, to add flag football as an official varsity sport in high schools. The California Interscholastic Federation sanctioned the sport for girls in 2023. ADVERTISING That’s a good thing, because that’s where the growth is. The National Federation of State High School Associations estimates that in 2023, about 500,000 girls ages 6-17 played flag football, up 63% since 2019. So it wasn’t hard for Constuble, who also works with USA Football, to find supporters. She helped secure donated equipment — flag belts, footballs, cones and basic practice gear. and said early fundraising has been entirely student-driven. “They’re doing it all themselves — donation requests, grassroots fundraising,” she said. So far, the team has raised about $9,600, covering field space, travel and referee fees. ADVERTISING “We’re getting a couple hundred dollars every few days,” Constuble said. “We’re in a good spot to get the kids where they need to go.” This season, San Diego State’s club team played exclusively on the road against other universities, including USC Club Flag Football. They opened April 17 at Cypress College with a 20–6 loss to Cypress College, then bounced back with a 7–6 win over Cal State Long Beach. They followed with a 28–6 loss to USC and a 26–13 loss to Mira Costa. In their final regular-season game, on May 9, UCLA rolled over them 44-6. But they are still looking on the bright side. In an Instagram post, they noted that their first season was in the books and there will be “more to come.” Tanner acknowledged the lack of home games but said “we will (have them) next year.” freestar For Tanner and Constuble, the goal is San Diego State eventually elevating women’s flag football into an NCAA-sanctioned sport. “Lauren’s a freshman and she’s passionate about the game,” Constuble said. “She didn’t want to wait. That’s why she started this as a student organization.” “Starting this team is about creating a new opportunity for girls and women,” Tanner added. “In high school, when I first found out we were getting flag football, I was excited because it was something new — a chance to play football. I think that’s amazing.”