Women’s Flag Football Tyler Woolbright
CHICAGO, Ill. — North Park University Director of Athletics John Born announced Women’s Flag Football as the Vikings’ 20th sponsored sport and named Ramon Palma (C ’22) as the program’s inaugural Head Coach.
"With the dramatic increase in popularity of Flag Football across the country, I am excited to announce Women’s Flag Football as our newest varsity sport," said North Park AD John Born. "Additionally, I am thrilled to name Ramon Palma as our inaugural Head Coach. Ramon brings with him a wealth of experience, an unmatched work-ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit. We could not have picked a better person for this position."
Palma enjoyed a four-year career with the North Park Football team, earning Academic All-CCIW honors in each of his four seasons. After graduating in 2022, Palma joined the NPU Admissions office while continuing to be a part of NPU Football as the team’s Social Media Manager. He created and published content in various formats across NPU Football’s ever-growing social media pages and built a team of that also assisted in content creation.
As an Admissions Counselor at North Park, Palma initiated, recruited, counseled, and supported over 900 prospective students and families from 80+ high schools across six target states.
"I’m very thankful for this opportunity and for the belief that John and the leadership at North Park has in me to give me the reigns of a brand-new program," said Palma. "Being the first to do something means a lot to me, as it provides a unique opportunity to actively write history. I look forward to working alongside the students, staff, and faculty at North Park as we launch this new program. Finally, I’d like to thank God for putting me in this position along with the continued support and guidance from the Viking football coaching staff."
North Park will begin practices in Spring 2025 and work to establish a full roster with eyes on competing in Spring 2026.
About Flag Football
This 2024-24 season, 20 NCAA institutions are expected to compete at the varsity level across all three divisions. Seven NJCAA schools sponsor Women’s Flag Football and the fast-rising sport has 13 stats sanction Flag Football at the high school level. At the high school level, the number of participants in Girls Flag Football more than doubled from the 2022-23 school year to 2023-24; a total of 42,955 girls participated in flag football in 2023-24 compared to 20,875 the previous year.
The average roster size is approximately 25 players that will play 7-on-7. Teams score six points for a touchdown and can gain an extra one or two points for a set play from the five- or 10-yard lines. Players will wear tightly fixed flag belts with sockets and two pop flags on either side of their hips.
The NFL is a huge supporter of the growth of Flag football. Numerous NFL facilities and stadiums have been utilized for competitions and clinics while several players have attended and engaged with athletes to grow the sport. Across the country this past year, more than 700,000 youth took part in NFL FLAG leagues, with nearly 500,000 of those athletes being female, and 13 states have now sanctioned girls flag football as championship sports, thanks to the work of the NFL and RCX Sports, the official operator of NFL FLAG.
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