Flag football, a five-a-side non-contact version of American football, is one of five new sports admitted to the 2028 Olympics, and the qualification route isn’t clear yet.
The New Zealand Mako headed to the World Cup this week ranked inside the world’s top 12. The women’s team — the Aotearoa Flag Ferns — are a few places lower than that.
Matt Hutcheson, an Auckland-based litigation lawyer of Hamilton origins, is among two survivors from New Zealand’s first world championship team in 2016.
He chuckles when asked if members of that everyman team thought it might involve the Olympics.
“We all played contact and were asked to have a go — it was just a bit of fun, although a couple of players had delusions of winning even though it was the first time we had played the sport,” he recalls.
“There wasn’t the slightest Olympic thought. This is pretty exciting and still a bit surreal. The sport has come a long way.”
That 2016 tournament in Miami, the eighth world championship since Austria hosted the first in 2002, was an “eye-opener” that energised Kiwi players to organise the sport better here.
“We just knew that with a few more tournaments we could be at that level,” says Hutcheson.
“I think we are about halfway there in terms of full potential. Culturally, we might be one or two decades away from it being a major sport here.”
At 31, Hutcheson says he won’t compete for a place in Los Angeles.
But he will proudly watch flag football’s progress, having helped establish the foundations.
One player with an eye firmly on the Olympics is Tom Rance, a Ponsonby under-85kg wing who has been selected in the New Zealand weight-restricted rugby side for the past two seasons.
The lightweight national rugby team hasn’t played yet, although there are rumours of an upcoming game against a full Sri Lanka team. So Rance is chasing an unusual dual international career in budding pursuits, of under-85kg rugby and flag football.
The Southlander spent a large slice of his early childhood in California where his father worked.
“I fell in love with the States, including American football,” says Rance.
Rance had a strong tournament when New Zealand over-performed by making the 2023 Asia-Oceania final against world No 5 Thailand in Malaysia.
He works in finance at the ASB and trains like a professional as much as he can.
Rance says the tactical and technical aspects of flag football make the difference — he studies footage of himself and opponents. It led to him grabbing a tournament-best seven intercepts from seven games in Malaysia.
“I didn’t do it the right way though — I watched the quarterbacks’ eyes instead of concentrating on who was in my zone,” he says.
“And it didn’t work in the final, which was a high-scoring game, a brilliant game.
“Footwork is a huge aspect. Luckily, Eddie Taylor who played college football is on the team and helps devise drills.
“Defensive players get beaten a lot. You’ve got to have a short memory and move on.”
Rance typifies the enthusiasm found in fledgling ventures.
He started the sport of flag football in Dunedin, and helps run the national team’s finances.
This included splitting the costs for two camps in Auckland, so the burden wasn’t on only the out-of-town players. Everyone put in about $370.
The players are paying nearly $5000 each to compete in Finland. Like all good team fundraising ventures, there has been a raffle. First prize: a Team Mako-branded beer fridge.
As much as possible, they are leaving no stone unturned. Auckland flag football is centred on the Rongomai Park grass in Manuaku, but the Mako will also play on artificial turf in Finland, and is why they scheduled a training session at Auckland Grammar.
But this Olympic bid is a world away from state-funded high-performance campaigns.
“We’re all really close, everyone knows each other in such a small sport,” says Rance.
“The 12 players to Finland include tradies, wealth advisers, some people who work for the Hawke’s Bay Magpies rugby ...”
But will it remain small? Not necessarily.
It has one huge advantage: ripping flags instead of making real tackles means there are none of the concussion concerns that afflict contact sports. A game is 40 minutes of high-speed skill with no excess risks.
The Olympic lure also raises the prospect of talented new and even high-profile recruits, although Rance bristles at the idea it could cost him his place.
“I love the idea of competing for my place ... it would be great to see All Blacks switching codes,” he says.
“The game does suit smaller players with speed and acceleration.
“Richie Mo’unga would be fantastic with his footwork — I’d love to see him running a route down the field. Will Jordan would be bloody good.”
Flag football’s wishful thinking includes reports that the biggest name in the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, is interested in making the Olympic team.
New Zealand’s quarterback in Finland will be the Wellington Wolves’ Jackson Te Huki, who teammates say has a “magic arm”.
As the only quarterback selected, Te Huki’s supremacy highlights how other players with Olympic dreams may already be frustrated.
But, in general, this is a young sport in a happy place.
“It is in a really good space,” says Rance.
“There were 17 teams at the last nationals, and the NFL flew the national schools winner to the USA.
“The American link is huge … American sport is exciting and built around personalities. In rugby you don’t celebrate scoring. We do the dances — it’s a big part of the game.”
And yes, Paris whetted the appetite.
“It’s every athlete’s dream to go to the Olympics,” says Rance.
“You don’t want to be too hopeful, but it crept into my view while I was watching these Olympics.
“It is so exciting to see where the sport can go. The Olympics are a long shot, but we can do this.”
