On May 4 and May 5, 2024, Ohio Northern University (ONU) hosted a tournament of the International Women’s Flag Football Association (IWFFA). The event was jointly sponsored by IWFFA, ONU, Wilson Sporting Goods Company, and the Inn at Ohio Northern University. Any woman on campus was invited to register or join a team to participate in the tournament. Practices were held until May 3.
Flag Football resembles standard American Football, but uses 15 inch flags attached to the waist, which are then pulled on by the opposing team, to indicate who is still in play. Since this reduces physical contact, no helmets or padding are worn on the uniform. While women had participated in the sport before, IWFFA was founded in 1997 to expand flag football’s reach to women and girls. It also bridged the first international connections for women in the sport.
Diane Beruldsen is the President and Founder of IWFFA. She came to Ohio Northern to oversee the tournament, as well as made several appearances to share her message. She says the purpose of IWFFA is “to unite women all over the world [and] teach leadership skills using flag football as it[s] vehicle.” Through their promotion of good sportship and teamwork, Beruldsen believes the league will “build female leaders to have female influence in world affairs.”
Russ Crawford, Ph.D., is a Professor of History at Ohio Northern. He has been promoting the event on campus, and has organized female flag football participation before. His most recent book is about Women’s American Football, and he has published several other articles on the topic. He says that as “a way for girls and women to play the most popular sport in the United States in a less expensive way and a less violent way,” flag football is “one of the fastest growing sports for girls and women.”
Crawford feels there is value in bringing the IWFFA event to ONU. He says, “no one was writing about it [women’s flag football].” It’s worth ONU promoting in part, according to Crawford, “because it’s a great untold story.”