UW-Oshkosh women's flag football team makes history in inaugural game

OSHKOSH – Inside the UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex, history was brewing.

Students, fans and those interested came with lawn chairs and blankets ready to watch a sport that had never been played before at UW-Oshkosh.

“It feels so cool,” UW-Oshkosh freshman Joely Schelfhout said. "It’s such an opportunity that this is my hometown and so many girls from my school get to sit there and watch me do this and be a part of this. It’s so awesome.”

What those in attendance watched was the first UW-Oshkosh women’s flag football game in school history.

“It feels great to be a part of it,” UW-Oshkosh head coach Deante Jefferson said. "It’s more just for the girls, getting that opportunity to be the first ones to do this and play the sport.”

UW-Oshkosh lost its inaugural game by a score of 34-0 to Aurora University (Ill.). It was announced on Aug. 28, 2025, that UW-Oshkosh was adding it as a varsity sport. Less than two months later Jefferson was hired as the first head coach after serving as Appleton North’s girls flag football coach during the spring of 2025.

“I didn’t think I would be a coach at the very start of my early childhood; even a few years ago if you told me I’d be a collegiate coach, I’d kind of laugh in your face,” Jefferson said. “But what got me into it is working at Appleton North High School and being a part of their flag football program and then just wanting to come be a part of this culture is why I decided to come to UWO.”

With the goal of playing in the spring of 2026 and having a quick turnaround, the campus gauged the interest of students to see who’d like to play flag football. It was a new sport for many of them, and practice started during the last week of January.

“There’s definitely been a huge learning curve. This is a lot more serious than it was in high school, and the competitiveness is a lot harder than I really expected,” Schelfhout said. "But having a team and other girls who you can grow with is genuinely the best.”

As the game started, it was evident that it was new to most of those involved, including at least one of the officials. Fans watched without an understanding of the rules, but the times to cheer and get excited were clear.

Despite the outcome not being for what the Titans had hoped, there’s room to grow and lots to learn.

“I think we learned how to overcome adversity. It was rough playing a team, like they’ve been recruiting; we really didn’t do a whole lot of that. So then having to step up and play a team like that, like, we’re willing to play teams like Nebraska. All we want to do is be better,” Schelfhout said. “I think that being the main goal is the best thing about our program.”

The Titans have 10 games left on their schedule and will have some time off before their next game, which will take place on Sunday, March 22. UW-Oshkosh will take part in the Marian University Triangular with games against Marian University and Illinois Wesleyan University. Those games will take place at Smith Field in Fond du Lac.

In the meantime, there’s some work to be done.

“Definitely looking at the film, spending time in the classroom, making sure that we know what we want to do, making adjustments, getting more installs, seeing where we have to make changes,” Jefferson said. “It’s just one game. We’re not going to scrap the book. We’ll just pick up from where we left off and continue to build.”

Tuesday’s game was the first of three home games, with the next one scheduled for 4 p.m., Saturday, April 4, against Rockford University (Ill.). It’s scheduled to be played at the Rec Plex. The home finale will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 12, against Bryant & Stratton College at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.

Contact or send game stats/info to Ben Schultz at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @benschultz52.

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: UW-Oshkosh women's flag football team makes history