Going for gold: Tucson native, Salpointe grad Rylen Bourguet pursuing Olympic flag football dreams

Winning seven state championships in three different sports wasn’t enough for Rylen Bourguet.

Now she has her sights on arguably the most-regarded sports accolade in world: an Olympic gold medal — and in a sport that’s been the center of her family’s world for decades.

Bourguet, who won those seven high school state championships in soccer, volleyball and beach volleyball while at Salpointe Catholic High School, is “switching paths” from her current beach volleyball career as a freshman at Arizona State University to pursue playing competitive women’s flag football with aspirations of making the Team USA’s roster ahead of the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) unveiled in October that men’s and women’s 5-on-5 flag football is one of the several sports added or returning to future Summer Olympic games, along with cricket, lacrosse, squash, baseball and softball.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in October the league “is committed to working together to strengthen flag football’s place in the Olympic movement long term.”

‘20 million’ ... ‘in 100 countries’

In a July op-ed written by Troy Vincent Sr., the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, for Sports Business Journal, the five-time Pro Bowl defensive back said, “Girls, women, people with disabilities, youngsters without the means to buy helmets and pads — anyone who wants to play football can participate.

“They can even aspire to an elite level,” he said. “If you think flag belongs in the same conversation as two-hand touch or family pickup games on Thanksgiving, you might listen to the young women who have picked up the sport and are now advocating for varsity teams in their hometowns. These are fierce competitors. They want to go up against the best of the best. Girls are leading the charge in making flag football one of the fastest-growing sports today.”

Vincent wrote, “more than 20 million participants in 100 countries” are playing flag football. NFL Flag, an organizer of youth flag football in the U.S., “has nearly 600,000 players across 1,853 active leagues,” per Vincent.

Former NFL defensive back Muhammad Oliver, founder of “NX Level AthletX” youth multi-sport development program in Phoenix, told the Star “a lot of parents are misinformed” when training their kids for football.

“When I ask them why they’re playing so much football, they’re like, ‘Because my kid loves it and they want to college and someday play in the NFL.’ Please tell me one kid that plays in the NFL who grew up and only played tackle football. All of them played multiple sports,” said Oliver, whose son is San Francisco 49ers defensive back Isaiah Oliver. “Flag football gives you the opportunity to take off the pads and do another form of football, but it’s not tackle football. You’re able to develop your skillsets a lot better playing flag football. ... We’re huge advocates of flag football because it gets you ready for tackle football.”

The International Federation of American Football has 75 member federations across six continents, including North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia, which also includes New Zealand and Tahiti, among other islands.

Arizona’s flag footing

Girls flag football recently became a high school sports sanctioned by Arizona Interscholastic Association this past fall. Two Tucson-area schools offered varsity flag football girls: Mountain View and Marana. That number is expected to increase as early as Fall 2024.

Between the time Bourguet was 8 and 14 years old, she led Tucson Turf Elite, a 7-on-7 organization founded by her father, Toby Bourguet, to five youth flag football national championships — two with a co-ed team and three with an all-girls 14U team. She played quarterback, wide receiver and safety.

“Growing up, flag football was my favorite sport. It was just never offered at a high level,” Bourguet said. “I would always have to play on the boys teams and eventually had my own girls team. When I got to high school, (flag football) wasn’t a high school sport like it is now. I missed out on a year of that but it’s alright. It’s offered at a high level and I get a chance to be around football players all the time, which is what I grew up around. It’s definitely been my passion. I just never had the opportunity to pursue it.”

Over “hundred and hundreds and hundreds of games,” she “was the best player on the field,” her father said.

“She probably averaged three touchdowns and one interception (on defense) a game,” he said. “I could count on her to break the games open. She’s a triple-threat basically. She sees the game better than any girl. She just plays on another level. It’s awesome.”

Rudy Fernandez, an assistant coach for Team USA’s women’s team, coached against Rylen Bourguet and Tucson Turf on several occasions. Fernandez has coached flag football for more than two decades and advocated for girls flag football in his hometown of Miami, Florida.

“I would game-plan solely to beat her,” Fernandez said of Bourguet. “She’s a special athlete, on and off the field. What makes it most impressive is her leadership. Watching her lead a team is very impressive. She kicked my butt many times. That family has football lineage.”

Football a family affair

About that family.

Bourguet’s parents, Toby and Vanessa, connected through competitive flag football in college. Toby was first introduced to the sport his freshman year at Northern Arizona before he transferred to ASU, where he reconnected with Vanessa, who played intramural flag football at ASU as a safety and wide receiver; the couple originally met at Arthur Pack Park when they were 13 years old.

“She was legit, legit,” Toby said of Vanessa. “Like very, very talented. Rylen is my wife 2.0.”

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After winning a regional championship in Tempe, Nike sent ASU co-ed and women’s intramural flag football teams to New Orleans for the collegiate national championships in 1998, where they played teams from LSU and Florida, among other schools. Toby later played competitively in “Let It Fly,” a nationwide 4-on-4 flag football league.

“I’m very, very proud and excited to watch Rylen do something that’s her passion, but never had the opportunity to do it,” Vanessa Bourguet said. “I’m excited that there’s all these different avenues that she hasn’t been able to have for the last few years.”

Rylen Bourguet is also one of six football-playing siblings, but the only girl of the family. Her older brothers, Trenton Bourguet, Coben Bourguet and Treyson Bourguet, all play Division I college football. Trenton, the oldest sibling and Marana High School’s all-time passing leader, and Coben just concluded another season at ASU, while Treyson entered the transfer portal following his second season at Western Michigan.

“Growing up, everything was very hectic,” Rylen said. “Just having a lot of siblings, that’s just how it goes. Having brothers, it keeps you tough. I learned how to talk smack. They got under my skin, but I was able to learn to get under theirs as well. They were always there for me and always protected me.”

All of the Bourguet siblings played in national events and won championships for Tucson Turf Elite growing up. Atlanta Falcons rookie running back Bijan Robinson, Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom and former Arizona Wildcat receiver and current NFL free agent Stanley Berryhill III were among several prominent Tucson-area players to play for Tucson Turf Elite.

Rylen became Treyson’s teammate at 5 years old but played up and competed against boys who were at least 4 or 5 years older. She played “with big ‘ol shorts and my flags would fall to my knees and I would trip on them.”

But “she held her own,” Treyson said.

“We called her lockdown, because when she was at (cornerback) she would lock stuff down,” he added. “It was super funny but she’s super fun to watch now.”

Destination: Los Angeles

So, what’s next for Rylen Bourguet with flag football’s Olympic debut not set for the 2024 games in Paris, but rather the 2028 games in L.A.? How does one become a member of Team USA?

For one, it’s committing to the craft. That means that although Bourguet spent much of the Fall semester as a freshman with ASU’s Division I beach volleyball program, she’s left the Sun Devils to focus her athletic exploits on flag football.

Bourguet is now quarterbacking Tucson Turf Elite’s 18U girls flag football team this year. One of her top targets is Malaysia Roebuck, a sophomore at Marana who helped the Tigers to a 13-1 record in the program’s inaugural season. Roebuck is the sister of former Marana star wide receiver Isaiah Roebuck, who was Trenton Bourguet’s top pass-catcher in high school.

“That Bourguet-to-Roebuck connection is still alive,” Trenton Bourguet said. “It’s awesome to see Rylen as a dual-threat (quarterback). You can hand it off to a quarterback, and she can either run or throw. To see her finally playing girls her age and not playing up anymore with the boys, it’s awesome to see them dominate, represent the shield in Tucson.

“She also plays defense as well. She plays safety and nothing gets over the top. If they have a girl that’s really, really good, we put Rylen on her and she takes her out of the game.”

Tucson Turf Elite recently won a regional championship in Arizona; the organization will send four teams to represent the Arizona Cardinals preceding the Pro Bowl in Orlando, which will also be televised on ESPN.

“She’s gotta play in as many competitions as possible, so she can be seen everywhere,” Toby Bourguet said. “Play in tournaments until a decision is made.”

Oliver added, “Word gets around how good you are and then you get invited to try out” for the national team.

Rylen Bourguet recently participated in a virtual combine to measure her athletic abilities.

Go figure; the NCAA D-I-caliber athlete excelled in every category.

“They’ll narrow it down and put together a team, but it’s a long process,” she said. “It’s a lot of patience, but you gotta work hard no matter what’s going on with their choices.”

For now, “the plan is to play at the biggest (tournaments) the next two years and establish herself as one of the nation’s elite players” Tucson Turf Elite and other all-star travel teams, said Toby Bourguet.

Then maybe she’ll add to her collection of championships with a medal at the Olympics in L.A.

“It’s surreal hearing it for the first time,” Rylen Bourguet said. “I never thought I would have the chance to do that.”