The Empire 8 announced on Thursday that five teams -- including Hartwick College -- will make up the inaugural season of flag football for their conference.

The last sport to move through the program was women’s wrestling, which was approved last month to be the NCAA's 91st championship sport.

According to the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Database, a sport must have at least 40 schools sponsoring it at the varsity level and meet minimum contest and pa

The Empire 8 officially announced the addition of women’s flag football as a conference-sponsored championship sport for the 2025-26 season in collaboration with the National Football

The Empire 8 Conference has announced the addition of women's flag football as a conference-sponsored championship sport for the 2025-26 season.

The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has recommended that Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add flag football to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.

"The Committee on Women's Athletics wants to thank RCX Sports Foundation and USA Football for submitting the application. CWA looks forward to flag football being added to the Emerging Sports for Women program and watching the sport's exciting journey to NCAA championship status in the future."