Girls flag football might be coming to Great Falls Public Schools as a club sport for both high schools.

District officials have been discussing the emerging sport for the last five years and for the last six months, studying the level of interest amongst middle and high school students.

Mike Henneberg, GFPS athletic director, told the school board during their March 9 meeting that the opportunity for flag football came to Montana through the Arthur Blank Family Foundation.

Blank is the owner of the Atlanta Falcons football team and co-founder of The Home Depot.

Henneberg said that Blank is a part-time resident of the Paradise Valley and first offered funding for girls flag football to Montana school districts five years ago.

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He said that three schools participated the first year and the sport has grown exponentially since in Montana and nationally.

Blank has been funding and promoting girls flag football through the Atlanta Falcons, an effort that has spread to other NFL franchises, Henneberg said.

Girls flag football is now sanctioned as a high school sport in 15 states and piloted in 22 states, including Montana.

It was featured during the Super Bowl and will be a sport during the 2028 Olympics, Henneberg said, also emerging at the NCAA collegiate level.

Girls flag football is currently a club sport in Kalispell, Butte, Missoula, Billings and some Class A-C schools, he said, with Bozeman, Belgrade, Helena and Great Falls considering it, pending board approval.

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Henneberg said he doesn’t anticipate it being a sanctioned high school sport for a few more years, but adding it as a club sport would give the district time to grow the program and prepare for that change.

The district surveyed students and families for grades 7-12 in the fall, with 417 students and 86 parents responding.

Henneberg said 160 students indicated they were interested or very interested in girls flag football, and 108 indicated they would participated if the club sport was offered.

“We feel there’s adequate interest in continuing the conversation,” Henneberg said.

The Arthur Blank Family Foundation is offering $15,000 per school per year for three years, Henneberg said, and he’s looking into a grant through Under Armor for up to $30,000.

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He said the district could build a program within those funding amounts, depending on the Under Armor grant award.

Henneberg told the board that the district has existing facilities and student interest for club girls flag football, and he’s worked out a 10-game scheduled to start, with two road trips so travel would be limited.

The season would be similar to golf, from August to early October and coach salaries would mirror golf, he said.

At this point, adding the club sport won’t affect Title 9 for GFPS, but if it’s added as a sanctioned sport, the district would have to review those numbers to ensure compliance.

Henneberg said he didn’t want to add something that would affect existing girls sports, but over the last five years, there hasn’t been a big change in girls sports numbers.

He said he’s seen some girls who want to play volleyball, but there’s limited opportunity to make the team, and those who don’t are playing other girls sports.

Citywide, Hennberg said there’s a large number of kids who want to do something active and competitive in the fall if they don’t make the volleyball team, but aren’t playing sports, so girls flag football might provide that opportunity.

The powder puff game at C.M. Russell High School is popular, he said, which shows interest in girls flag football.

District officials have had some internal conversations about how the sport would be sustained once the three-year foundation grant ends, and Henneberg said they have some ideas and are exploring some other funding opportunities.