Tucson youth flag football continues streak at NFL Flag Championships

For the 13th straight year, Tucson will be represented on the biggest stage for youth flag football.

Tucson Turf Elite Football (TTEF) will have four teams at the NFL Flag Championships this week at the ForeverLawn Sports Complex at Hall of Fame Village at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, from Thursday through Sunday.

The NFL Flag Championships feature around 300 teams and roughly 3,000 players from around the world, including eight co-ed teams from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The 33 hours of live coverage of the NFL Flag Championships begins on Friday at 7 a.m. and will be aired and streamed on the Walt Disney platforms: ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+, Disney+, Disney XD, ESPN Deportes, NFL+ and NFL Network.

Coverage of the NFL Flag Championship will be available in over 125 countries, including the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean.

Each U.S.-based team will represent an NFL team after winning regional tournaments across the nation. Tucson will have an 8U boys team (Arizona Cardinals), 10U boys team (Las Vegas Raiders), 12U girls team (Denver Broncos) and a 12U boys team (Los Angeles Chargers) at the NFL Flag Championships this year. Last year, Tucson Turf Elite Football had seven teams at the NFL Flag Championships.

“It’s beautiful,” said Toby Bourguet, who founded Tucson Turf Elite Football in 2007. “It’s Canton and it’s a neat place with a lot of tradition with football, and you get kids and coaches from all over the nation, which is a really neat social event. On top of playing football, you get to meet kids doing the same thing you are from all across the nation, which is the bigger picture.”

In previous years, the NFL Flag Championships were held at the Pro Bowl in Orlando and the Super Bowl.

Building a legacy

Regardless of location, Tucson Turf Elite Football has been one of the premier flag football programs in the U.S., winning five championships at the NFL Flag Championships. In total, TTEF has won nearly 30 national championships in flag football and other 7-on-7 events.

“I’ve really enjoyed the journey ... because it offers so much to us as people,” Bourguet said. “You get to work on a team and there’s leadership and other roles you need to accept and excel in. There are so many beautiful variables that you can take into real life.”

Since its inception, Tucson Turf Elite Football has grown to 15 boys and girls teams with around 200 players annually. Tucson Turf Elite Football is a 501©(3) organization, “so we’re a true nonprofit,” Bourguet said.

“We’re not a nonprofit with a board that gets paid and coaches that get paid; everything goes back to the kids and the program,” he added. “The people that have been involved are Hall of Fame type of individuals in Tucson. A lot of them stay active, even when their kids aren’t involved.”

The list of football players to come through the Tucson Turf Elite Football organization includes Atlanta Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson, Carolina Panthers rookie defensive back Lathan Ransom and Devin Fitzgerald, the son of Arizona Cardinals legend Larry Fitzgerald, among many others.

Bourguet’s oldest sons — Trenton, Coben and Treyson, who have all played at the Power 4 level in college — are also products of Tucson Turf Elite Football. The latest Bourguet son, Emeron, will play for the 12U team representing the L.A. Chargers this week.

Rylen Bourguet, Toby’s daughter, played for Tucson Turf Elite Football before the program introduced girls teams. When Rylen was a standout athlete at Salpointe Catholic, Arizona didn’t have girls flag football for high schoolers. When Bourguet was an underclassman at Arizona State, she retired from her illustrious beach volleyball career to pursue flag football, with aspirations to compete in the 2028 Olympics.

Bourguet, who has competed at the NFL Flag Championships, has been a “poster child” for the NFL and its promotion of flag football between commercials and advertisement, said Toby Bourguet.

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“These girls understand what she has done for the game of flag football — and what she’s still doing,” he said.

Since girls flag football became an AIA-sanctioned sport, “it has only grown astronomically and I believe flag football and girls flag football is only going to keep charting up,” Bourguet said.

Beyond flag football

Sports like volleyball, soccer and softball require skills that “are used in flag football and it’s constant motion and great football without the physicality,” Bourguet said. “If you’re just into physicality and the UFC, that’s cool. No one is saying (flag football is) quote unquote real football, but it is real football.”

The lack of physicality, in comparison to traditional football, helps skill players (quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs, tight ends, linebackers and defensive backs) perfect their craft without pads and helmets.

“Sometimes you’ll play five (flag football) games a day,” Bourguet said. “You take all of those reps and you put that into your backpack, then you go and play tackle football and, besides the hitting, you’ve repped out so many times of great football, it translates to tackle football and your body will thank you for it, too.”

Izzy Garcia, who is playing for Tucson Turf’s girls team this week, started playing football at 4 years old and “it’s been a wonderful 10 years since I started.” Garcia is about to begin her career at Marana High School, which has one of the top girls flag football programs in Southern Arizona, with a 27-3 overall record — undefeated against Tucson-area teams — since it started three years ago.

“It’s amazing how popular girls flag football has become, and it’s been a wonderful opportunity to play,” Garcia said. “It’s amazing playing with Marana because the team is so energetic and uplifting. They’re amazing, so positive and it’s great to be on that team.”

Noah Tapia, who is playing for Tucson’s 10U club this week, was introduced to flag football when he was 5 years old.

“Ever since, I fell in love with it and I kept playing throughout my (childhood),” Tapia said. “I’ve been playing for six years and it’s just exciting and fun.”

Bourguet emphasizes the latter.

“When I go to the sideline, I always say, ‘Remember, whoever has the most fun, wins,’” he said. “A lot of people laugh at that, but there’s a lot of truth to that. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, you’re probably thinking of other things too much, and that’ll get in the way of a clear conscious that’ll help you get through a competitive moment.

“We’ll get in this huddle and we’ll have mics and the ESPN cameras on me and the kids will expect me to say wonderful words and I’m just like, ‘Listen, you guys like recess, right?’ ‘Yeah!’ ‘OK, guess what? I’m releasing you to recess. Just go have recess and have fun.’ When they look at it like that, football is just a game. ... When your kid stops enjoying something, find something else for them to do, whether it’s football or playing a guitar.

“Find something for them to enjoy and if you take the joy out of it, then what are we doing? They might be doing it for other reasons, sadly. This sport has been, to the core, shredded because kids find themselves playing it instead of the love of the game.”

The experience the players will have this week in Canton “is so beyond the competition.” Not only will they compete on national television, but they’ll also mingle with some of the most renowned players in the NFL. Bourguet recalled Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Drew Brees and Randy Moss meeting with his teams in the past.

“All of these people you see on TV that you watch play and compete at the highest level, they’re walking around, and these kids, because of flag football, get an opportunity to be in that environment. That is pretty cool,” Bourguet said. “You can play tackle football your entire life and get 30 seconds of face time without a helmet on. Here, these kids are playing on national television and it’s broadcasted all over the world without a helmet. You see them laughing and show true emotions.

“That’s pretty cool. It’s a great opportunity. ... We’re really proud of what we’ve done as a program and, most importantly, what these kids and this community has done.”