Rylen Bourguet, a seven-time state champion in three different sports during her Salpointe Catholic career, is continuing her impressive exploits in flag football, signing with the World Flag Series’ new professional league called WFS1.
WFS1, which will take place July 25 at Suncoast Credit Union Stadium in Tampa, Fla., is the first professional women’s flag football event of its kind. It will be played in the 5-on-5 format, which aligns with the international and Olympic format.
Bourguet will be one of 30 elite athletes from 10 countries on three teams, including current and former collegiate women’s flag football players.
World Flag Series was founded by Phil Cutler, head coach of McGill University’s flag football program in Canada.
“The World Flag Series is about creating a memorable fan experience for a generation of fans who have grown up playing flag football,” Cutler said in a press release. “WFS1 is being built as a professional stage for the athletes, the fans, and the future of the sport. Women’s flag football has elite players, international momentum, and incredible stories. Now it needs events that present those athletes the way they deserve to be presented.
“Flag football is entering a new era. The growth of the sport is real, but the professional opportunity is still being shaped. After 20 years in flag football, I’ve seen firsthand how much the game has grown. WFS1 is our first step toward building something that can grow with the game and give the best women’s flag football players in the world a platform that matches their talent.”
Full rosters, broadcast details, and fan experiences for WFS1 will be announced in the coming weeks before July 25.
Bourguet comes from the famed Bourguet athletic family in Tucson with brothers Trenton, Treyson and Coben and parents Toby and Vanessa, owners of Tucson Turf. Toby is one of the pioneers in Southern Arizona developing 7-on-7 talent for his highly successful Tucson Turf Elite program.
The youngest sons Kendren and Emeron are already established flag football standouts with Tucson Turf Elite. Kendren is with 17U Team USA and Emeron is alternate for the 15U team.
Trenton is a former record-breaking quarterback at Marana who went on to Arizona State and is now on the coaching staff with the Sun Devils. He and Coben have earned an engineering degree at Arizona State.
Coben and Treyson are Salpointe graduates. Coben went on to play receiver at Arizona State. Treyson is a fifth-year senior quarterback at BYU who has already earned his business degree.
Rylen won state championships in volleyball, beach volleyball and soccer (flag football was not instituted yet at the high school level when she attended Salpointe from 2019 to 2023). She went to Arizona State on a beach volleyball scholarship but has since opted to train in flag football with the hope of being a member of Team USA when the sport is introduced to the Olympics in two years at Los Angeles.
She is presently pursuing her business degree at Arizona State as a senior.
“Being a multi-sport athlete has helped me on and off the field with leadership skills, dealing with different types of teammates and different types of coaches,” Rylen told the State Press. “When it comes to skill, soccer helps with speed, volleyball helps with jumping, and coming from playing sand volleyball to a field where I have cleats, it makes me a lot quicker on my feet.”
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