With the announcement of women’s flag football coming to Illinois Wesleyan in Spring 2026, Illinois Wesleyan Athletic Director Mike Wagner and President Sheahon J. Zenger spoke with Argus staff to share how the addition will affect IWU>
Flag football is the 27th sport added to IWU’s diverse slate of women’s sports including women’s wrestling and women’s bowling who debuted their seasons this year.
”IWU has a chance to be a leader in an emerging sport that is sweeping Illinois high schools and provide young women an opportunity to further their experience at the collegiate level while getting an incredible education,” President Zenger said.
Illinois Wesleyan is underway in a search for the program’s first head coach.
”We will be looking for someone who is a good person, loves what they do, will be committed to providing the best student-athlete experiences; on the field, in the community and in the classroom, while building a team that will compete for championships,” Wagner said.
”We hope to continue to attract the best and brightest students with this addition,” he said.
”We currently feel the ideal roster size would be around 25.”
Similar to other sports at Illinois Wesleyan, no scholarships will be given out for flag players to adhere to the NCAA’s policies on DIII athletic scholarships.
Wagner also said that many of Illinois Wesleyan’s College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin rival schools are considering adding flag to their schools. Currently, IWU has Benedictine University and Rockford University in Illinois for future competitions and hopefully a number of other schools will also debut their own flag programs before IWU begins play in Spring 2026.
Students who are interested in paying can fill out the student interest form at: https://www.iwusports.com/sports/2024/10/18/womens-flag-football-recruit-questionaire.aspx.