The San Francisco 49ers are committed to advancing opportunities for all youth in the game of football, and with the team’s support, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) unanimously passed the motion to make girls flag football a varsity sport across the state on Friday.
“We are thrilled with the results of the CIF vote, sanctioning girls flag football as a varsity sport in California,” 49ers president Al Guido said. “This will further the opportunities for girls, both on and off the field.”
The move by the CIF will make flag football an official sport for girls in the upcoming 2023-24 school year. California is now added to a growing list of states that have included girls flag football in high school athletic programs, such as Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and New York.
“California is the latest and greatest state to pass the initiative,” 49ers PREP senior manager Tucker Baksa said. “Hopefully there are more to come because it’s not enough.”
At the scholastic level, girls flag football participation has exponentially increased in recent years. In 2021, the NFL and Nike launched a $5 million grant toward the sport and the 49ers organization have supported girls in the sport in a multitude of ways.
49ers PREP has hosted a T.H.I.N.K. Gold! Conference, an event for high school female student athletes that focuses on supporting young women in their athletic endeavors and giving them an inside look at careers in professional sports. Running since 2009, the conference has served over 600 female high school student-athletes.
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