EAGAN, Minn. – Congratulations go out to the UW-Stout women’s flag football team which recently captured the first-ever Midwest College Women’s Flag Football League Championship the Minnesota Vikings’ TCO Performance Center in April.

The Blue Devils came into the double-elimination tournament seeded fourth after finishing the regular season at 4-2 and the team had to climb their way through the bracket to claim the title. Stout opened the tournament with a 41-36 win over Augustana University, then beat top-seeded Augsburg University 34-31 in the quarterfinals. Stout cdowned Concordia-Moorhead to advance to the championship round. The Blue Devils met Augustana, which had come back through the bracket to face Stout again. The Vikings needed to win two games over Stout to claim the title. Augustana took a 42-41 overtime first game win to set up the winner-take-all championship final. Stout responded with a 46-31 decision and carried the trophy back to Menomonie.

The National Football League (NFL) has been active in sponsoring women’s flag football around the country at the both the collegiate and high school levels. The Minnesota Vikings partnered with UW-Stout, as well as Augustana University, Concordia College Moorhead, Gustavus Adolphus College, Bethel University, and the University of Northwestern, St. Paul to form the league. In the partnership, the Vikings, with support from the NFL, contributed a total of $140,000 to support the league and the participating schools.

Athletic director Duey Naatz, a former head football coach at Stout, coached the flag football team. The team played a pair of games at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul, to open the season in early April, then hosted a jamboree at Don and Nona Williams Stadium with all league teams April 12. Stout finished the season at 8-3 overall.

Kay Hein, a freshman from Menomonie, was a member of the team.