Girls flag football coming to WEM

Flag football for females will be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Flag football for Minnesota high school students started in April.

One of the teams who will be part of the new flag football league hail from Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.

A total of 51 teams from throughout the state, mostly metro schools, started this journey in early April thanks to the Minnesota Vikings. Last year there were only four teams who competed.

The complete funding from this league will be bankrolled by the Vikings, including footballs, equipment, flags, coaches, and referees. School districts will not pay a dime.

The Minnesota State High School League is not sanctioning this league, but if things go well it may become a sport which they will become involved with. The Vikings are the lone sponsor.

In a story in the Minnesota State Tribune, Vikings youth and high school football manager Joe Rush said, “We’re in the business of removing barriers and creating equitable access to this opportunity for young girls in our region.

WEM head coach Jon Bakken said the flag football concept for girls was pushed hard during the Minnesota State High School Football Coaches Executive Board Meeting in January.

One of the winningest coaches in high school football history, Bakken and his assistant, Chad Atherton, have 25 girls registered and they have been practicing on Sundays and Wednesday since April 6.

There are eight districts in the state and in WEM’s sub-district are Lakeville North, Fairmont, and Lakeville South. The other half of the district includes teams from Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Bloomington.

“We are definitely in a different category when it comes to enrollments,” Bakken said. WEM is by far the...

To see more on this story pick up the April 24, 2025 print edition of the LifeEnterprise.