A sport that was once played mostly recreationally is now creating real opportunities for female athletes.
Women’s flag football is growing rapidly across Saskatchewan. Just a few years after picking up the sport, Saskatoon product Ella Sowden has earned one of only two NFL and RCX Sports Foundation International Women’s Flag Football Scholarships, which are awarded worldwide.
“When I won, I just started crying because I was so happy,” said Snowden. “My family was there, and all my teammates, and friends were there to watch, and it was just a really great moment.”
Sowden initially grew up playing soccer before switching to flag football in 2022. She played defensive back for the Institute of Saskatchewan Football and represented Centennial Collegiate.
She was selected twice to Team Saskatchewan U18 Women’s Flag Football and won a silver medal at the Football Canada Elite Flag Nationals.
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The five-figure scholarship will help send her to Lindsey Wilson University in Kentucky, where she’ll continue both her education and football career.
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“On the field, it gives me more purpose and determination with what I do; it gives me a bit of sense of myself and what I want to do, and it will also get me through school with no debt or anything, make sure I’m financially stable leaving school so I can just continue my career however I want,” Sowden said.
It’s another sign the pathway is expanding. Here, both the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan offer women’s flag football. Nationally, U Sports has continued to grow the game, with universities adding women’s flag programs.
The pilot designation announced in early June lasts five seasons. U Sports have not yet released the full list of universities that will compete in the Women’s Flag Football pilot beginning in the 2027-28 season. However, universities that already sponsor varsity women’s flag football are expected to be among the early participants.
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“Before, it was considered just a club sport for universities here in Canada and not necessarily varsity and part of U Sports, and for this, it gives it an actual league and a bit more of a purpose than it already had. And it just gives more opportunities for people in Canada locally to play post-secondary,” Sowden said.
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“Of course, with the NCAA, they’re fast-tracking everything, so I’m really glad that U Sports is able to hop onto the same kind of wave we’re riding right now with flag football, and so we don’t lose too many of these great athletes like Ella Sowden to the States and they have that opportunity to stay in Canada,” added University of Regina 2027 women’s flag football assistant coach, Brenna Metz.
With the addition of the game in the 2028 Olympics, the opportunities for flag athletes are only growing, and Saskatchewan is at the forefront of it all. Sowden has also been identified as a prospect for the Canada Women’s National Flag Football Team ahead of the sport’s Olympic debut.
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