On the back of becoming national champions in men’s flag American Football at the end of March, the Tauranga City Tridents’ short off-season is coming to an end.

The more traditional other side of their club activity – contact American Football – is starting to gear up ahead of the summer season.

The Tridents became the Bay of Plenty’s first American Football club in nearly two decades when they began operating in October 2021.

While flag football, the non-contact version of the sport, was the first cab off the rank due to its accessibility and smaller equipment requirements, the club’s long-term vision always included establishing a contact football team.

Thanks to a grant from Sport Bay of Plenty’s Tu Manawa fund in 2022, that vision began to take shape.

Contact American Football is starting to gear up ahead of the summer season. Photo / Supplied

The club was able to purchase 30 sets of contact football gear, with support subsidies from the sport’s national body, the New Zealand American Football Federation.

“It was pretty slow going in the early days, owing to some severe weather events making our grounds unusable, as well as people genuinely not knowing that the sport existed in Tauranga,” said Tridents president Alex Hatwell in a statement.

“However, we’ve now got over 120 registered club members, helping with word-of-mouth, and a strong social media footprint.

“For the past couple of summers, we’ve been able to upskill 10-20 players each season and for the most committed and talented, arrange loan placements to other clubs so they can get real game experience in helmets and pads.”

Three Tridents players were part of a Hamilton Hawks colts (16-20 years) team that won the American Football Auckland title in 2023, with another two representing the Hawks last season.

The club is hoping to build on this platform by getting to a point where they can enter their own standalone team in the competition.

“American Football really is a sport for every body shape,” said Hatwell.

“While the fast and athletic receivers tend to shine across many sports, this sport also caters to bigger athletes who might struggle with the endurance demands of rugby or league.

“These big units are essential on the offensive line – protecting the quarterback and carving out running lanes in the trenches of the line of scrimmage. We want to see these guys come down and give the sport a go, even if they haven’t been involved in other sports for a while.”

While playing locally is the first step, there are now genuine pathways in American Football for New Zealanders.

In the past few weeks, both the New Zealand U18 and Senior Men’s teams competed against Australia, reflecting the sport’s rising profile on both sides of the Tasman.

Increasingly, Kiwi athletes are also securing college scholarships to the United States, turning local talent into dual sporting and educational opportunities.

The most prominent success story from Downunder is Jordan Mailata, who transitioned from the NRL to become a starting offensive lineman in the NFL with the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles.

The Tauranga club now has more than 120 registered club members. Photo / Supplied

With the NFL Academy opening on the Gold Coast in 2024, now there’s also a dedicated regional hub focused on identifying and developing talent from across the South Pacific.

The Tridents will be holding three open days at Waipuna Park, where players aged 16+ can come and try out the sport for themselves under the tutelage of experienced coaches Zhivan Alach, Christopher Petitpas and Cameron Laing, who collectively have several decades of experience playing and coaching the sport.

Thanks to the Tu Manawa grant, the Tridents have all the equipment needed, with potential athletes just needing to bring water, boots and some exercise clothes.

The first open day is this Sunday, July 27, at 1pm.

This will be followed by additional open days on Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 10.

Check out the Tauranga City Tridents social media pages for more information.