About 300 girls enrolled in the YMCA of Snohomish County's fall flag football league, which opened its season Tuesday, Sept. 1.

The enrollment surge comes as all three Everett high schools build on an inaugural girls flag football season that exceeded expectations. Everett High School, Jackson High School and Cascade High School each launched the sport as a varsity program during the 2025-26 winter season after the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) sanctioned it.

Demand exceeded what the district expected.

"Because we have so many girls that have turned out we've had to bring on more coaches to have more teams," Everett Public Schools athletic director Dani Mundell told the Everett Post in January. "So, Jackson High School has three teams, Everett High School has three teams, and then Cascade has two."

That is eight school teams across a district that had zero a year earlier.

Chris Bellecourt, who oversees sports programs for the YMCA of Snohomish County, said about 1,200 kids signed up for fall flag football across all the Y's locations.

About 300 of them are girls. The league runs through Nov. 7 and draws players from across the county, from Stanwood and Arlington to Monroe and Lynnwood.

The Y is bringing practices into players' own communities rather than requiring families to drive to YMCA locations, the Everett Post reported.

Bailey Forsyth, sports coordinator at the Everett Family YMCA, said many girls at the Y's summer camp at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island were picking up the sport for the first time. She said the girls "just had a blast."

Bellecourt said the Y wants to give girls a place to try flag football before high school tryouts begin in November. The rec league also serves as a feeder: USA Football reported that participation among girls ages 6 to 12 jumped 283% between 2015 and 2024, and the sport is set to debut at the 2028 Olympics.

Snohomish County is expanding fast. Five high school teams competed last season. Ten more county schools plan to start programs when the winter sports season begins in November, including Glacier Peak, Snohomish, Lake Stevens and Woodinville.

Thirteen-year-old Essence Thomas, an Everett player who competes for the YMCA of Snohomish County and the Everett Elite travel program, captured the momentum in an August profile: "Go for it … Don't be afraid to try new things."

Every team in the YMCA league finishes its season with a themed bowl game.