Adjusting Your Field for Flag Football

Adding Flag Football to Your Athletic Department

The popularity of flag football is on the rise across the United States, especially for high school girls. The sport is non-contact and can be played in all seasons making it an attractive and competitive option for many ages and demographics. The fast-paced game also needs less participation with 5-7 players per team, compared to regular football teams of 11. 

This up-and-coming sport will debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and many states are considering turning it into a sanctioned high school sport. With an increase in flag football interest around the country, athletic departments are wondering how to incorporate this new sport into their schedules and existing facilities. 

Luckily, adding flag football to your athletic program is a straightforward process with Motz.

The Best Advantage: Use Existing Infrastructure

You do not need a dedicated field for flag football, though you can build one. The easiest way to incorporate a flag football program into your existing infrastructure is to adjust your football field with flag football lines. Flag football can also be added to a baseball outfield, a soccer field, a lacrosse field, or a multipurpose field. 

One of the great benefits to flag football field lines is the ease of set up. Implementation can range from simple tick markers to painting full lines. 

Flag football teams and rules can vary depending on the league, state, and age group. There are three different field sizes used, but a standard field dimension is 25 by 70 yards in total with two 10-yard end zones and a 50-yard field of play. No-run zones are right before the goal line. 

Some locations may use smaller fields due to available field space. Motz can consult on which field size is best for your facility. 

If you’re using a football field, many of the lines that already exist on the field are applicable to the flag football dimensions. If you’re working with a smaller field or a non-football field, you will likely need to install separate tick markers or painted lines.

Installing Lines or Tick Marks

When planning ahead for your athletic department budget, note that adding a dedicated flag football field will be more expensive than updating an existing football field. However, a net new field that’s only used for flag football will not be as big as a regulation football field. 

Since the material needed for the flag football tick marks is the same as the material of the turf field, installation is not overly complicated. A brand new field is a longer process, but implementing tick marks is a quicker fix. 

Motz will install tick marks and the field owner can paint full lines themselves rather than installing inlay lines. Installation typically takes 1-2 days to complete – Motz will extract the existing infill and glue in the new tick marks.

Properly Maintaining Your Field 

If you are planning to install inlaid lines on a field for flag football, you won’t need to paint lines each season. If you choose to paint lines, however, there are some best practices to keep in mind.

Removing previous paint is key to maintaining the aesthetics and performance of your field. Paint build-up over time can cause damage to your fibers, congeal with the infill, and lead to high GMAX numbers in that area. Hardening can occur, making the field dangerous to play on. 

Do not continuously paint over lines each season. Instead, use the tick marks as your guide so you can paint lines, then remove lines, and know where to re-paint when a new season begins. 

The Future of Flag Football

A flag football season schedule can be easily integrated into an existing athletic program or field events schedule. With an easy set-up for flag football field lines, the field can be scheduled for games and practices, without disrupting other sports or events that use the field.

Adding a flag football field to your athletic facility expands sports offerings for students and your broader community. By using an existing football field, you’re getting even more playtime out of your field investment. Flag football will likely be the second, third, or even fourth sport played on your facility’s football field.

Talk to a Motz representative today about planning for the next flag football season.