FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — Marian University in Fond du Lac is becoming the first four-year university in Wisconsin to add a women's flag football team.
The university announced in a press conference Wednesday that women's flag football will be their 26th intercollegiate sport, starting in spring 2026.
Marian University Athletic Director Tony Draves said the school noticed the increasing popularity of the sport, particularly ahead of its 2028 Olympic debut, and wanted to be one of the first universities to add the program.
"One of the things that the university has done a great job of is using athletics and other activities to grow enrollment, and we currently, we don't really have a club team on the female side, so we can expand our offerings to females," Draves said. "We can expand our geographic footprint because this has become, this has exploded at the high school level."
The university is currently in the process of hiring a coach, and the team will compete against other Midwestern schools including Benedictine and Illinois Wesleyan.
Freshman soccer player Dani Chaname said she played flag football at her high school in San Francisco and is excited for the sport to come to her university.
"It's gonna be big, and I'm excited for that," Chaname said.
