U Sports to introduce women's flag football as a pilot sport

Flag football makes its Olympic debut in 2028 and Canadian university sport has stepped up its role in producing players for the national women's team.

U Sports and Football Canada will collaborate on the introduction of women's flag football as a pilot sport for the 2027-28 season.

The governing body for Canadian university sport made the announcement Wednesday at its annual general meeting in St. John's.

A pilot sport has a lower standard for participation levels and a five-year window to prove it deserves full-sport status.

"We certainly are paying regular attention to gender opportunities, and in this, it did represent an opportunity to provide a football offering on the women's side," said U Sports chief executive officer Pierre Arsenault.

Football Canada has held a Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship for the last five years.

Women's flag football has been a varsity sport in Quebec's RSEQ conference since 2021, with eight teams participating. The University of Montreal defended its title in Regina in May.

But second-year quarterback Elisabeth Ashkar of Blainville, Que., said this was the first year the team was allowed to call itself the Carabins.

"We're going to get more resources, more funding with this incoming news," Ashkar said.

"Young girls right now are going to have a clearer path to playing flag football at the university level. It's just more opportunities for girls all around the country to play a sport and continue practising it throughout their school years."

Canada's roster for the world championship Aug. 13-16 in Duesseldorf, Germany, is dominated by players from Quebec.

But about 500 women also play at a club level at 14 Ontario universities in the Ontario Women's Intercollegiate Football