Penny is joined in the club by brothers Alex and Sean Hatwell, who serve as the president and secretary respectively. Both spent several years playing American football in Aotearoa.
Penny said the brothers were "essential" to the club's success.
"We couldn't have done it without them - they helped that vision and dream become a reality."
A year after bringing the sport to Tauranga, and representing at a national level, showed how much potential the sport and community really had. And he loved it.
"I love the strategy of the game, different plays, jargon and the community.
"If we are able to keep this awesome sport sustainable, it will support creating great athletes and good men off the field. There's a real brotherhood about this sport."
Penny hoped to continue pursuing his passion for American flag football professionally and had recently been selected to train at a national level. He was determined to be one of the 14 selected next year to represent Aotearoa against Australia in a transtasman clash.
"Representing the country will be unreal. The foot is in the door now, I just have to keep working," Penny said.
"I've got my eye on the Olympics in 2028."
Alex Hatwell said the club initially began with a group of core players, but quickly expanded after "a lot of work from the coaches and committee".
"Ethan Clarke is from the Hamilton Hawks and he was instrumental in bringing the right people together and getting some support from the New Zealand American Football Federation in the early days," Hatwell said.
Hatwell said the Trident Standard was an important value within the club.
"We're all in this together and share the success of all of the teams within the club."
He said the development of the sport's professionalism in the country could have players travelling internationally to compete - and noted the International Olympic Committee was expected to decide in December if American flag football would be included in the Olympic Games.
American flag football in NZ
- American football is a contact sport. The non-contact version is American flag football. The sport is also known as gridiron due to the design on the field.
- New Zealand has a strong contingent of players in the regions; Nelson, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Waikato, Auckland and now, Tauranga.
- Tauranga City Tridents - the three-pronged spear is the symbol of the ancient Greek god of the sea, in a nod to the whenua of Tauranga Moana being surrounded by the sea.
- The American NFL has proposed to include American flag football at the Olympics in 2028. Any form of American football last appeared at the Games in 1932.
- Playing American football at the highest level is a big money-maker - the highest-paid athlete for the NFL 2022 season is American Aaron Rodgers, who made US$50 million this year.
