NC Wesleyan To Add Women’s Flag Football In 2028

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – North Carolina Wesleyan University is adding women’s flag football to its athletic program, with the Battling Bishops scheduled to begin competition in spring 2028.

The university announced Kenny Inge as the inaugural coach of the program.

Recruiting will begin in fall 2027 for student-athletes who would make up the school’s first women’s flag football team.

“North Carolina Wesleyan is excited to announce that we will be starting a new athletic program, Women’s Flag Football, in Spring 2028,” Director of Athletics John Thompson said. “An emerging sport over the last several years, flag football is rapidly growing, and we believe the time is right to add to our sport offerings for women.”

North Carolina Wesleyan will compete in the USA South Conference.

The sport has continued to expand at both the high school and college levels. In January 2026, the NCAA added women’s flag football to its Emerging Sports for Women program.

During the 2025-26 school year, 135 North Carolina high schools fielded women’s flag football teams.

North Carolina Wesleyan will join several other colleges and universities in the state offering the sport, including Meredith College, Guilford College, Wingate University, Barton College, Lees-McRae College, Catawba College and Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Within the USA South Conference, Meredith College is currently the only other member school offering women’s flag football.

“We are excited to bring this growing sport to North Carolina Wesleyan and to provide another opportunity for women student-athletes to compete at the collegiate level,” Thompson said. “We look forward to building a strong program and welcoming our inaugural student-athletes to Wesleyan.”

North Carolina Wesleyan University is a private Methodist-affiliated institution in Rocky Mount offering undergraduate, transfer, graduate and working-adult programs. The university enrolls students from across the United States and more than 40 countries.