(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy)
Josh Tufnell entered his new Howard-Suamico team in the NFL FLAG Football regional tournament four years ago with much optimism and, as he acknowledges, not enough experience. They got smoked.
“I had no idea what the speed of the game was like outside Howard-Suamico,” Tufnell said. “Then you get to these tournaments, the speed, the discipline, it’s a whole different level.”
More than 350 girls and boys teams will compete July 24-26 at Droplight Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Indiana, near Indianapolis, for the NFL FLAG national championships. One of them will be Tufnell’s 8-and-under team, which is “very fast. For their age, they can catch. They have a good quarterback who can throw. They have good coaching in Chris LeCloux,” Tufnell said.
A second of his three teams entered in the regional tournament hosted by the Green Bay Packers at the end of May, a 12-and-under team, and missed qualifying when it lost in the last 8 seconds of the championship game. Some of those players were on the first tournament team.
“Each year got a little better,” Tufnell said. “That’s why we started a new league this spring.”
Howard and Suamico have two flag football organizations. The Howard Suamico Youth Sports Association organization, called the Buccaneers, runs in the fall and had about 800 participants in 2025. The new spring league, owned and operated by Tufnell, called the Huskies, had nearly 350 kids. The leagues are open to boys and girls and not necessarily limited to Howard and Suamico residents. Tufnell manages both.
The Buccaneers play at Nouryon Sports Complex in Howard; the Huskies at Idlewild Park in Suamico. There are divisions for 6-under, 8-under, 10-under, 12-under and 14-under. The organizations also include a division for 3- and 4-year-olds. Participation in the Buccaneers is $90 per player; the Huskies is $150. For the 3- and 4-year-olds, which is more of an introduction to football, it’s $75. There are boys’ teams, girls’ teams and coed teams. Information is available at the teams’ websites or by email at huskiesflag@kbtsports.com.
The fall scheduled includes six regular-season games on Saturdays, followed by a three-game tournament on the seventh Saturday and a bracket tournament on the eighth. In spring, it’s a seven-game regular season. with a round-robin tournament on the eighth Saturday and bracket-tournament on that Sunday.
During the regular season, everyone plays. “The regular season football, that’s for all the kids to play, that’s for everybody to learn,” Tufnell said.
Players overlap between the two leagues and some play both flag and tackle football.
Tournament and block party at Bay Port
In addition to everything else, the teams participate in the Ingold Family Foundation Charity Tournament and Block Party, created with Los Angeles Chargers fullback and former Bay Port High School star Alex Ingold. The second annual tournament, a fundraiser for the foundation, is scheduled for June 25 at Bay Port High School in Suamico.
Football is played during the day and the free block party, also at the high school, is from 5-8 p.m. It includes music, entertainment, yard games, community partner booths, and more. Also, it will include Alex Ingold.
“We are trying to incorporate the families into it,” Tufnell said. “The kids love it. We have food trucks, inflatables (bounce houses), the County Rescue helicopter.”
Tufnell’s pursuit of tournament success continues to evolve.
“We kind of threw the tournament teams together this year. The goal was to get the program up and running for the spring and build a good foundation,” Tufnell said. “Next year, we will have a separate tournament division. I think we are on the right path.”
The Packers regional tournaments included teams from Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan, as well as Wisconsin.
“This tournament this year was by far the fastest,” Tufnell said. “Even with the best kids we had, it was amazing how quickly things happen in the game. There’s no time to make adjustments. You have a game plan and you have to play it out.”
Fundraising for the 8U team’s trip to Indiana is planned.
The NFL for the last several years has been the world’s biggest promoter and supporter of flag football, and it’s a growing high school sport, especially for girls. With that in mind, Tufnell invites local high school teams, which may have trouble finding facilities, to use their fields, too, which he said is popular with parents of the younger players.
“We want to give them a place to play if they need a place to play,” Tufnell said.
Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X at @RichRymanPG and on Instagram at @rrymanPG.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Howard-Suamico flag football cracks code for NFL FLAG success
Reporting by Richard Ryman, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Richard Ryman, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
