PIAA taking final steps in flag football journey

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, July 18, 2025 | 6:02 PM

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Eighty yards long. Forty yards wide.

Those measurements are now the official dimensions of a high school flag football field in Pennsylvania. Choosing the layout was among the biggest decisions adopted this week as the PIAA added structure to its newest girls sport.

Also approved Wednesday by the PIAA board were details about season length, number of games, officials and equipment. Other decisions impacted the on-field action including a move to exclude placekicking.

Teams start playing PIAA-sanctioned games in the spring.

“We had a number of things we had to adopt to start getting the balloon off the ground,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said.

The PIAA board officially adopted girls flag football as a sanctioned sport in September. However, the PIAA’s approach has been cautious, much like after girls wrestling was adopted in May 2023.

For example, the PIAA previously decided not to hold state playoffs this spring for the first season of flag football.

“I think the board did this in the proper way,” Lombardi said. “It’s not shoot, ready, aim. It was, ‘Let’s take this in a step-by-step systematic approach so everybody is informed, and we can get it done right.’ Just like girls wrestling — I know a lot of people were clamoring to do it faster — but we did it in a fashion where you already see the growth. It expanded quickly because we did it right, and we established the foundation. We want to do the same things here.

“The worst thing we could do is start a sport and four or five or six years down the road go, ‘Oh my gosh. Nobody wants to play it. We’ve got to drop it.’ That would be terrible.”

The PIAA’s planning process got a boost when the National Federation of State High School Associations published a flag football rulebook this spring. Besides the standard rules, the book included variations each state could adopt.

The PIAA committee that oversees traditional tackle football met July 9 and offered its flag football recommendations. Lombardi said one recommendation was to create a specific committee for flag football, which the PIAA intends to do.

• State championships: The PIAA won’t hold a state postseason tournament this spring. Instead, the first state championships are scheduled on the weekend after Memorial Day in 2027, said PIAA associate executive director Pat Gebhart.

• Field dimensions: The NFHS rulebook gave states three options for field dimensions. The PIAA chose Option 1, a field 80 yards long (not counting the two 10-yard end zones) and 40 yards wide.

Two other NFHS options used a 100-yard field.

• Season length: Teams can play 18 games during a 10-week regular season starting in March, Gebhart said. Flag football will overlap with other traditional spring sports seasons.

• Game ball: The NFHS lists specific dimensions for a girls football that weighs between 12-14 ounces, has a long circumference of 26-27 inches and a short circumference of 19-20 inches. The dimensions are slightly smaller than for boys flag football.

“There is a girls ball that’s out there,” Lombardi said. “The size is listed in the rulebook. We will use that. But we have to have a suitor to provide that.”

Wilson provides the PIAA with traditional footballs.

• Flag style: The PIAA will require the use of a “pop socket” style of flag rather than tear-away flags starting Jan. 1, 2027.

• Overtime: Teams start 20 yards from the end zone and have four plays to score.

• Officials: Three officials will work regular-season contests. Gebhart said the PIAA will consider using four officials for the postseason.

“Some of these items could change based on our flag steering committee,” Gebhart said. “But we felt that we wanted to get most of the adoptions at least looked at by the tackle football committee.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.