Marana High multi-sport standout chases spot on Japan's national flag football team

On a recent flight to Japan, Marana High School multi-sport athlete Roxi Singer felt relatively calm on the 15-plus-hour trip.

It wasn’t until about two hours before reaching her destination that a twinge of anxiety began to set in. After all, this was a trip over a decade in the making. 

Singer, who has dual citizenship between the U.S. and Japan, was on her way to try out for the Japanese women’s national flag football team — a sport she’s dedicated her childhood and teen years to. 

To calm her nerves, she started repeating affirmations to herself.

“I was telling myself, ‘You've put 12 years of your life, you sacrificed for this sport,’” she says. “‘You've stayed extra at fields to get extra work in. You go to personal training to get even more work in. You play year-round. You've done everything in your power to have you succeed. And if you don't make it into the 24-man (roster), there's a reason for that, which means I just have to go back and find that reason. But there was nothing more I could have done to prepare myself. And I just had to be OK with that, knowing that I've done everything in my power.’”

Upon arriving in Japan, Singer’s nerves dissipated and it was time to focus.

Over three days at the first round of tryouts, Singer’s schedule was “jam-packed” with lectures, field practices and studying film, she says. But all of that is in a typical day's work for her. 

The most challenging part of the tryout was the language barrier and having to communicate with coaches through a translator.

“It was very difficult in that aspect, but learning the defense and offense there wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be,” she says. “Because the fundamentals are where you build off of that. So, I think knowing my fundamentals helped me a lot through that, because if I didn't know how to do that, then I wouldn't have been able to do anything.”

Singer will head back to Japan next month and stay for weeks, as she works through the next rounds of tryouts. Ahead of returning, she says she’s fine-tuning the details in her techniques, such as her footing, and working on her football IQ.

She’ll find out if she makes the national team by the end of this summer. 

Singer hopes to make the 12-person roster to be able to compete in the International Federation of American Football’s world championship in Düsseldorf, Germany, later this year.

The team could also compete in the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games in 2028, which will be the Olympic debut year for the sport.

After leaving the first round of tryouts a few weeks ago and flying back home to the U.S., Singer says she felt “really good” and “accomplished” but still a little eager about what’s to come, both abroad and at home.

Outside of flag football, Singer has played basketball and soccer, and she’s currently a track and field athlete and a wrestler — something she picked up in the last two years. 

“Funny story, I actually swore it off. I said, ‘I'm never going to wrestle,’ ” Singer says. “I thought it was really weird. And then an ex-wrestler here who graduated, Makayla Roebuck, she asked me to come in for an open mat because she just said, ‘You know what, I've seen you play basketball. You're really physical. I think you'd be good at this.’ I was like, ‘Ah, OK.’ So, I went in for a day for an open mat type of thing and I basically never stopped showing up.”

Since beginning her wrestling journey, Singer has only improved on the mat. 

In her first season with the Tigers during her sophomore year, she went 7-7, followed by 26-15 in her junior year. She also placed in two tournaments last season. 

This season, she’s 47-3 and has placed in every tournament she’s competed in, according to head girls wrestling coach (and flag football coach) Shaun Lara. She currently competes in the 132-pound weight class. 

This season, she was the champion at the Mile High Challenge: Battle for the Buckle in Prescott and the runner-up at the Doc Wright Tournament in Winslow. Singer was also voted “Outstanding Wrestler” at the Maricopa Desert Open. 

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“I think it's different than other athletes because when you get a student, even if it's a student that you see over and over, you only know them at face value for their athleticism in that sport. And so because I knew what she can do, in wrestling and vice versa, what she can do in football, I have high expectations for her, and I think she meets them every time,” Lara says of coaching Singer in multiple sports. “And so it's really cool to see her have that strength, that flexibility, that athleticism in almost every sport she wants to do. I don't know if she's ever taken a break in her life.”

Although Singer wasn’t super serious about wrestling initially, that’s all changed. Even on her recent trip to Japan, she made sure that she didn’t miss any wrestling matches during her brief absence. 

This is just a small example of the growth she’s made over the years, especially mentally, she says, as she’s become more dedicated to the sport.

“She is hard-driven. She wants to be coached. She is very coachable,” Lara says of Singer. “When a lot of kids, doesn't matter their age, they come in and they don't want to be coached, they're quiet and they're just shy. She comes and asks those questions so she’s coachable, hard-driven and dedicated.”

Her accomplishments throughout high school, both on the field and the mat, have caught the attention of several colleges and she’s received numerous offers to play both sports at the next level. 

However, before she expands upon her sports journey, wherever that may take her, she has a few more things to take care of in Marana, such as the AIA state wrestling tournament, which begins later this month. 

But while the thought of victory at the highest state level is enticing. Singer isn’t getting too ahead of herself. Instead, she’s focusing on each day, each moment, at a time and giving it her all — one last time. 

“I don't want to leave the programs that I'm a part of because they became my family, but at the same time, I know I have to move on to bigger, better things,” Singer says. “I have to move on, which is really sad. Just like I said, I built really good relationships with coaches and players, and just to see my growth and impact on each and every one of these programs. 

“It's sad to leave, for sure, but I'm also excited because I know all of these programs I've been a part of have been very, very good. So, I know I'm prepared. It's more just the emotional ties to the team, not so much the physical. Because I know I’m going to end up doing the same thing. Football is football. Wrestling is wrestling. That's not going to change.”

Fast Five with Roxi

Who’s your favorite football player?

Probably Jalen Hurts or Jason Kelce. All of my dad's side of the family lives in Philadelphia or somewhere in Pennsylvania, and so it kind of just got passed down to my dad, as well, and then my dad just continued it and passed it down to me.

If you could play flag football anywhere, where is your dream place to play?

Oregon State or Georgia.

What’s your current hype song?

“Brainstew” by Green Day. That’s probably one of my top songs that I listen to before every match.

What’s your favorite Japanese meal?

Vegetable curry.

What’s your favorite class in school right now?

P.E. I get to play football and play dodgeball and weightlift as much as I want.