Our Lady of the Lake University is running a new play in collegiate athletics.
This fall, the school will become the first in San Antonio and the second in Texas to launch a women’s flag football program. The OLLU Saints’ women’s flag football team is set to take the field for the first time on February 10 of next year.
The move places OLLU among a small but influential group of early adopters. Only 35 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics schools nationwide currently sponsor a women’s flag football team.
In February, OLLU hired Chris Seay as head coach of the new program. During his brief tenure, Seay has recruited students from across the country to join the team’s inaugural roster, pulling in the sport’s top recruits from Louisiana and Florida.
“Let the games begin,” Seay said. “This recruiting thing is a battle. It’s a total battle. But I’m excited about the opportunity to put this school on a map in a different capacity than the community is used to.”
Although Seay is recruiting students for their performance on the gridiron, he said the sport is an important way to provide scholarships and expand educational opportunities at OLLU.
“We’re using football to get the student athletes here, but we keep them for the education,” Seay said. “It’s an opportunity to coach them, to drive them to be the best that they can be, not just on the field, but off the field as well.”
Flag football’s momentum at the collegiate level has accelerated since the NCAA added it to the Emerging Sports for Women program in January. Seay credits the sport’s rise to its fast pace and lower injury risk.
“I’m sure we won’t be the only program in the city for long, but we’re setting a trend,” Seay said.
Passionate athletes
Earlier this month, OLLU hosted its first women’s flag-football prospect camp for middle and high school athletes. The event drew 35 young athletes from places as far away as Dallas and El Paso.
Marlowe McCauley, a junior at the Houston area’s Fulshear High School who attended the camp, sees a bright future for flag football.
“I’ve enjoyed being a part of the history of flag football, because we’re able to show what it’s supposed to look like through our passion for the sport,” she said.
Tayla Simmons, a 2026 graduate from Hightower High School, also in the Houston area, committed to play for OLLU after attending the workshop.
“Growing up, I loved watching flag videos, and I thought, ‘I could do that, I want to try that,’” Simmons said. “I’ve always played basketball, but my senior year, I’ve been playing flag, and I’ve become really passionate about it.”
What started with interest at the youth and high school levels has culminated in an NFL professional league and the sport’s upcoming debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
In April, Seay hired Elda Ruiz-Graham as assistant coach. In addition to her role as a coach for the Texas Fury South Texas travel flag football team, Graham is an official youth camp coach for USA Football, the national governing body responsible for selecting, training and managing the U.S. Men’s and Women’s flag football teams at the Olympics.
“It’s exciting to be a part of how it started and to where it’s at now,” Ruiz-Graham said. “There are a lot of things on the table: college, the Olympics and now a pro league.”
‘Men tend to take priority’
Although college football is a $2.2 billion industry in Texas, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis, Ruiz-Graham said the state has been more hesitant than others to capitalize on the momentum behind women’s flag football.
Talent-rich states such as California, Florida and Kansas have led the charge and created three NAIA conferences in the Southwest, the East Coast and the Midwest, respectively.
“We are a football state, but here in Texas, men tend to take priority. I feel like young ladies have so much talent and eagerness to learn,” Ruiz-Graham said. “They’re excited that people are investing their time, are volunteering and want to see the sport grow when Texas hasn’t quite adopted it like other states quite yet.”
OLLU leaders expect the new program to support enrollment growth and strengthen the university’s athletic profile at a moment when women’s sports are gaining unprecedented investment. Ruiz-Graham and Seay agree that OLLU’s early entry into the flag football fray positions it to help shape the competitive landscape.
“Flag is wide open for girls right now. It’s the time to get in if you haven’t already,” Ruiz-Graham said. “It’s history for our school, for San Antonio, for Texas. These players are part of a story that’s going to be huge.”
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