A win at the recent flag football national championships is a bit of redemption for Tauranga City Tridents.

About 59 athletes across five squads from the Tauranga City Tridents travelled north on Friday last week to compete at the New Zealand American Football Federation flag football national championships, held at Bruce Pulman Park in Auckland.

The three-day tournament is the pinnacle event of flag football in New Zealand and featured around 600 athletes from around 20 clubs from across the country.

The Tridents were the only team from the Bay of Plenty to compete at the tournament, and the on-field performances represented the fruit of the athletes’ labour which began at the start of the season in October 2024, said a statement released this week.

With two teams in the open men’s division, alongside women’s, youth (under-18) and legends (35+) teams, it was the largest contingent sent by the club since it was founded in 2021.

These numbers placed the Tridents among the upper echelon of clubs nationally in terms of athlete representation at the tournament, despite being a comparatively newcomer to the scene nationally.

Flag football is a five a-side, fast paced, non-contact version of American Football, played on a 50-yard field in 20-minute halves.

Played without the “trench warfare” of the offensive and defensive lines, it features a quarterback and four receivers, with “tackles” being made by ripping flags held on the waist of receivers. It is destined to be an Olympic at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Last year four athletes from the Tridents represented the New Zealand teams, with six more in the New Zealand development framework.

Sunday afternoon was the finals day for the tournament, with the Tridents featuring in two of the four finals.

The Tridents youth team, who had been undefeated through the tournament, fell 50-19 to a well-drilled and very experienced Canterbury Panthers team who conquered the division for the third year in a row.

Despite the final result, the team, coached by Ra Walker, could take plenty of pride from a tenacious performance against a very good team.

In the final game of the tournament, the Tridents “White” team, coached by Chris Cordrey and led by quarterback Mark Riley faced off against Tāmaki Lightning.

Both teams had gone undefeated through the tournament, and the Lightning team featured several national representatives, and is coached by former New Zealand head coach Shiraz Soysa.

Undeterred, the Tridents played a near-perfect final, running out winners 40-19 on the back of free-flowing offence and stingy defence, shutting down the Lightning’s potent attacking threats.

For the Tridents men, it was redemption, after falling in the last play of the final of the same tournament last year.

“It was a great showing for our club on the national stage,” said Tridents president Alex Hatwell.

“We’ve always known something special was brewing within our club, but to take out the pinnacle event of the tournament in just our fourth year is mind-blowing, especially after coming so close last year.

“We’re also immensely proud of our youth team, the core of whom still have two more years in that division so have a bright future ahead of them.

“While the results didn’t necessarily go our way with the other squads, that’s sport and it’s reflective of just how much higher the bar is being raised every year. They’ll be better for the competition.”

The Tridents have one final tournament with their junior (under 14) age group in April and then will enter the winter off-season.

Details of the club activities can be found via the Tauranga City Tridents social media pages.

Results:

Men’s - Tridents White - 1st

Men’s - Tridents Blue - 17th

Youth - 2nd

Women - 9th

Legends - 4th