Travel flag football team preparing youth for future

The future of football has arrived. The Turf Legends, a travel flag football program based out of T3 Performance in Avon, is giving young flag football players the same chance to play against high-level competition from across the region and the country that their peers in sports like basketball, softball and soccer have had for decades. In their inaugural season, the Turf Legends have 16 teams, 12 boys and four girls, with players ranging in age from 6-14 who practice two days a week and compete in a schedule of five or more tournaments over the late spring and summer. The Turf Legends are the brainchild of former Vermilion football coach Rob Duray, who, along with his business partner, Sean Payne, brought the program to life after running successful local football leagues. "If you look at the numbers over the last five years, flag football is the fastest growing sport. I don't anticipate that slowing down," Duray said. "We started thinking about AAU basketball and travel baseball and thought why would we not have a travel football team in Northeast Ohio, so we decided to spearhead it." Practices began in March and Turf Legends started competing in May with teams playing at venues across Ohio and Michigan. The 10U and 12U boys teams won their divisions at the Cleveland Browns NFL Flag qualifier last month at Euclid High School to earn the right to play in the NFL Flag Championships at the Pro Football Hall of Fame complex in Canton this month. All of the Turf Legends teams competed in the Summer Nationals last weekend in Canton. "Being a part of this team is really special to me because I'm able to do a lot of things I haven't done before," said Skylar Hotz, a wide receiver on the 10U girls team. "I've always seen boys doing everything and I felt really glad that I've been given the opportunity to show that I'm a girl and I do it too." Like many of the girls on the Turf Legends, Hotz is inspired to follow in the footsteps of North Ridgeville grad Isabella "Izzy" Geraci, who is member of U.S. Women's National Team that will compete in the 2028 Olympics when flag football makes its first appearance as part of the Olympic movement. Hotz said she was excited to play at the Hall of Fame but the best part of the season has been being able to test herself against the better competition the Turf Legends schedule provides. "My dad offered me the chance to play football when I was really young," Hotz said. "I wasn't very good when I started but I've gotten way, way better and this league has really helped me. I know when I'm old enough to be in the Olympics I will definitely try. There's nothing that can hold me back." For Tyler Hotz, Skylar's father and the coach of the 7U boys Turf Legends, the biggest thing about playing travel football is that it allows players to improve their skills against better competition and have the same experiences that their friends in other sports get to enjoy. "As much football as we've played, we played the the same kids year in and year out," said Tyler Hotz, who's been coaching in various flag leagues for four years. "As soon as I heard about the opportunity to take my kids out of their comfort zone and put them in something more challenging with a different group of kids, and travel the country to do it, it was a no-brainer. We used to think we were the best in the world, now we're really competing against the best in the world and we found out we still have some work to do. "The experience is really unique. It's really great for any family or any kid to experience the travel life of sports. As much as it can be stressful and financially straining, it's a really fun experience for the kids to go somewhere out of town, hang out at the hotel with all of your friends, go swimming the night before and then go compete with your friends against kids from all across the country." Duray is hoping this is just the beginning for the Turf Legends. He's hoping for more teams next year, especially on the girls side, and to grow the overall program. While drawing heavily from Lorain and western Cuyahoga counties, the Turf legends have players from as far away as Solon and Sandusky. "Our tentative schedule was to start practicing in March and we'd be done by August," Duray said. "What we're finding out is there's a lot more opportunities. One example is high school. There are high school 7-on-7 tournaments in the winter. There are other opportunities throughout the year. This is our first rodeo and we're learning a lot and taking into consideration what is out there. My hope is we have other clubs start up in the Northeast Ohio area and we just make this gigantic in the area." Liam Brown, a member of the 12U boys team, had been playing flag football for three years but has been able to take his game to another level with the Turf Legends. "I wanted to be involved in something more challenging and have more competition," Brown said. "The coaches push us to our limits. If you want to get better, they will make you better. Instead of just playing against your friends, you're seeing players who are on a whole different scale." In addition to playing last weekend at the Hall of Fame, the Turf Legends are bringing teams later this summer to play at the University of Michigan and Ohio State. "We're working to get every kid better every day," Duray said. "We're working to get teams to win tournaments. We're working to get teams to nationals and get our program recognized nationally." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.