Tim Griffiths, named the inaugural head coach for Goldey Beacom Women’s Flag Football Team

Goldey-Beacom announced that it will launch a women’s flag football program for the 2026–27 academic year, making the Lightning the first team in the region.

Tryouts and recruiting for the inaugural women’s flag football team are expected to ramp up over the next year, with the first group of Lightning flag football players set to take the field in fall 2026.

WILMINGTON, Del. — Women’s flag football is quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing varsity sports in college athletics — and Goldey-Beacom College is betting big that Delaware should be part of the first wave.

Goldey-Beacom announced Oct. 16 that it will launch a women’s flag football program for the 2026–27 academic year, making the Lightning one of the first colleges in Delaware to sponsor the sport at the varsity level and positioning the school as a regional leader in a rapidly expanding game.

The move comes as women’s flag football gains momentum nationally, pushed by NCAA recognition, investment from the NFL and the sport’s upcoming debut in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

A national trend meets a local opportunity

In February 2025, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics recommended women’s flag football for inclusion in the Emerging Sports for Women program, a key step toward full championship status once at least 40 schools sponsor the sport.

The NAIA officially sanctioned women’s flag football in 2020 and held its first championships in 2021. The NJCAA followed in 2023, widening the pipeline for two-year college athletes. Today, more than 65 NCAA schools sponsor women’s flag football at the club or varsity level, with at least 20 more expected by 2026.

Colleges are adding programs for several reasons:

• It is less equipment-intensive and generally safer than tackle football.
• It attracts new female athletes, many of whom did not play traditional high school sports.
• It offers a fresh way to boost campus spirit, enrollment and alumni engagement.

With flag football set to be an Olympic sport in 2028, athletic directors see a rare chance to build a new women’s program at the ground level — and to offer scholarships in a sport that is only going to grow.

Goldey-Beacom “gets in on the ground floor”

That is exactly how Goldey-Beacom’s athletic leadership views the opportunity.

Director of Athletics Jeremy Benoit has framed the decision as a strategic move that aligns the college with a sport on the rise, noting that Goldey-Beacom is “getting in on the ground floor” just as interest in girls’ and women’s flag football is exploding at the high school level and drawing support from the NFL.

The 2026–27 season will mark flag football as the college’s 15th varsity sport and is expected to fold into competition within the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, where a conference championship could be in place as early as 2027.

By acting now, Goldey-Beacom aims to become a destination for female athletes from Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland who want to keep playing flag football beyond high school.

Tim Griffiths, the college’s Academic Interventionist Coach for the past four years, was named the inaugural head coach

A coach built for a startup program

To lead the new program, Goldey-Beacom turned to someone who already knows its student-athletes and has a record of building teams from scratch.

Tim Griffiths, the college’s Academic Interventionist Coach for the past four years, was named the inaugural head coach. Griffiths is a former Division II football player at Mansfield University and a past captain of the U.S. National Rugby Team. He has extensive experience launching athletic programs in public education — a background that translates directly to starting a new varsity sport.

Griffiths calls flag football the “ultimate team sport,” and says his vision is for the Lightning “Bolts” to be a force not just on the field, but in life.

He stresses that the program will be built on leadership, sportsmanship and self-confidence as much as playbooks and playcalling, and that academics will remain central. Goldey-Beacom recently celebrated a 91% NCAA Academic Success Rate and 57 student-athletes named to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference All-Academic Team.

Delaware’s chance to lead in a new women’s sport

For Delaware, Goldey-Beacom’s decision marks a significant step. The college becomes one of the state’s first institutions to commit to women’s flag football at the varsity level, giving local high school athletes a nearby option to continue in the sport without leaving the region.

With the college’s proximity to the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL’s growing investment in girls’ and women’s flag football, Goldey-Beacom officials believe there will be opportunities for clinics, joint events and exposure that few campuses can match.

As colleges across the country race to add women’s flag football, Goldey-Beacom is betting that an early start — and a clear focus on both academics and leadership — will make the Lightning a flagship program in the Mid-Atlantic.

Tryouts and recruiting for the inaugural roster are expected to ramp up over the next year, with the first group of Lightning flag football players set to take the field in fall 2026.

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