ABOVE PHOTO: Duey Naatz served as a Blue Devils football coach prior to his role as athletics director.
“We are excited to be the leader and the first campus in the WIAC to bring women’s collegiate flag football to reality. With the growth of this sport nationally, we are thrilled to build on UW-Stout’s tradition of providing our current and future students with new opportunities,”
-UW-Stout Director of Athletics Duey Naatz, head women’s flag football coach.
University of Wisconsin-Stout announced today it is partnering with the Minnesota Vikings and five NCAA institutions to launch a new collegiate women’s flag football league. Along with UW-Stout, participating institutions include Augustana University, Concordia College Moorhead, Gustavus Adolphus College, Bethel University, and the University of Northwestern, St. Paul.
“We are excited to be the leader and the first campus in the WIAC to bring women’s collegiate flag football to reality. With the growth of this sport nationally, we are thrilled to build on UW-Stout’s tradition of providing our current and future students with new opportunities,” said UW-Stout Director of Athletics Duey Naatz, head women’s flag football coach.
As part of the partnership, the Vikings, with support from the NFL, will contribute a total of $140,000 to support the league and the participating schools.
The UW-Stout Blue Devils have 20 student athletes on its roster – 18 players and two assistant coaches. Psychology senior Allison Letcher, a guard on the women’s basketball team, is expected to be one of the quarterbacks.
“I am excited to play women’s flag football and to be a part of history with the first ever women’s football team here at Stout. We want to be an inspiration to little girls hesitating to join football, proving to them that it is a women’s sport, too,” said Letcher, of Windom, Minn.
Teams will compete in jamborees this April at University of Northwestern, St. Paul, and University of Wisconsin-Stout, leading up to the championship tournament at TCO Stadium in Eagan on Saturday, April 26.
Game Schedule:
- Saturday, April 5 – Jamboree at University of Northwestern, St. Paul
- Saturday, April 12 – Jamboree at University of Wisconsin-Stout
- Saturday, April 26 – Championship tournament at TCO Stadium
“This is a significant moment for the continued growth of girls’ and women’s flag football,” said Vikings Vice President of Social Impact Brett Taber. “These seven institutions are set to do something unique, and their partnership with the Vikings and the NFL will bring further awareness to the future of women’s football and empower the next generation of athletes to find opportunities to compete and shape this game.”
The Vikings and the representatives from the participating schools will host media availability at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center on Wednesday, March 5, at 11:30 a.m. UW-Stout Director of Athletics Duey Naatz is set to attend the press conference and will be available for one-on-one interviews.
Psychology senior Allison Letcher is expected to be one of the Blue Devils women’s flag football quarterbacks.
For more information, to RSVP for the scheduled media availability, or to arrange one-on-one interviews with participating schools, contact Naatz at naatzd@uwstout.edu or 715-232-2758; or Vikings Corporate Communications and Media Services Associate Sydney New at news@vikings.nfl.net or 612-456-0687. Further details regarding the jamborees and the championship tournament will be shared later.
Naatz is in his 35th year with the Blue Devils and 15th as director of athletics, for which he is responsible for the oversight of 22 varsity programs. Prior, he served as football, track, and strength coach and instructor for 20 years.
Duey Naatz served as a Blue Devils football coach prior to his role as athletics director.
About Minnesota Vikings Girls Flag Football
Since 2022, the Minnesota Vikings have supported the growth of girls’ and women’s flag football, increasing opportunities for athletes at the middle and high school levels and supporting the pathway for women to play in college. The organization has allocated more than $600,000 toward statewide and regional girls’ flag football efforts, helping reduce financial barriers for girls to play and assisting with transportation and facility costs and coaches’ and officials’ stipends.
After partnering with Minneapolis Public Schools to pilot a middle school girls’ flag football program in 2022, the Vikings saw eight total districts participate in the middle school program in 2024. The team has also been working with high school programs throughout the state and expects to announce the state’s first high school girls’ flag football league in spring 2025. The Vikings hope to expand the initiative to schools across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa and believe providing financial support and other resources may help remove barriers so more schools can introduce programs.
Through a longstanding partnership with the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), the Vikings have held multiple conversations with MSHSL representatives regarding the goal of establishing girls’ high school flag football as a varsity sport in Minnesota. Additionally, the team spearheads the Minnesota Girls Flag Initiative Committee, comprised of high school athletic directors, varsity football coaches, MSHSL representatives, and other leaders passionate about the sport. Flag football is the nation’s fastest-growing emerging high school sport, and as of February 2025, 14 states have girls flag football sanctioned at the high school level: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
For additional details, visit NFLOMG.com.
