Rylen Bourguet, one of the most distinguished female athletes to hail from Southern Arizona, has accepted a full-ride scholarship at Nebraska, the only Power 4 program in the nation offering full scholarships for the burgeoning sport of flag football.
“We always trust God’s plan and timing,” her father Toby Bourguet mentioned in a social media post. “Every step of her journey, she has found ways to rise to the top. We’re excited to see where this next chapter leads her.”
Rylen was a seven-time state champion in three different sports during her Salpointe Catholic career. She 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 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 was a member of the Sun Devils’ flag football club team.
Nebraska’s first season will be in the spring of 2028, before the Olympics.
Liz Sowers, a five-time NAIA champion coach at Ottawa-Kansas, was hired as Nebraska’s head coach in February.
It is Nebraska’s 25th varsity sport, 15 for women and 10 for men. Flag football is the first sport Nebraska has added since beach volleyball in January of 2013.
Women’s flag football students will receive the same student-athlete support services as other Husker student-athletes.
The plan for the Cornhuskers is to have 15 scholarships available this first year (2026-27) with the number of scholarships increasing to 20 in in 2027-28 and 25 in 2028-29. The addition of these scholarships will help Nebraska achieve a long-standing goal of Title IX proportionality.
With the NCAA’s announcement of flag football as an emerging sport, it is expected that a number of schools will add this as a varsity sport in the coming months. Nebraska is discussing a schedule for its inaugural season, starting with Division I schools with existing flag football programs, and engaging with other programs as they add the sport.
The focus before the first season in 2028 will be in preparation for competition. That includes recruitment of the initial roster of athletes, followed by practice sessions starting this fall. There is the possibility of informal competitions in the spring of 2027.
There is also a need to identify and build its office space and locker rooms, and schedule competitions for Spring 2028.
In addition to playing at Nebraska with full allotment of eligibility years, she also signed 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.
Rylen will be one of 30 elite athletes from 10 countries on three teams, including current and former collegiate women’s flag football players.
She 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.\
Recommended for you
