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The growing sport of high school girls flag football took another step forward Wednesday with the signing of El Dorado’s Nia Gille.

The senior signed as the first female flag football recruit for Hope International, the NAIA school in Fullerton announced on Instagram.

Hope International will field its first girls flag football team in the 2025-2026 school year.

“It’s so exciting,” said Gille, who played quarterback the past two seasons at El Dorado.

Women’s flag football debuted in the CIF Southern Section in the fall of 2023 and concluded its first championships last weekend.

Gille said she didn’t believe she would play flag football in college until she learned last month that Hope International was starting a program. She added that she was already familiar with the university.

“(I) made peace with the fact that I wouldn’t be able to continue playing in college,” she said. “(But) on October 10, Hope announced that they would have a flag football team next year and I was offered the opportunity to be the first recruit.

“Since I was drawn to Hope quite early and didn’t think I could play flag, I didn’t look at any other colleges for flag.”

Women’s flag football is an NAIA level sport.

Hope athletic director Chris Morrison said Wednesday the school is in the process of hiring a coach. He added that women’s flag football would be a spring sport in 2026.