Jorja Mouat has been named in the NZ National Women's Flag Football high-performance unit. Photo / Stuart Whitaker
Trying a new sport has potentially changed the course of Jorja Mouat’s life.
Jorja, from Te Puke, has been selected for the NZ National Women’s Flag Football high-performance unit (HPU) after trying the sport just a few months ago.
And she could go further, with scholarships available for promising flag football players in the US.
It was just last November, after Jorja’s mum Tracey tagged her in a post about a women’s flag football day being organised by Tauranga City Tridents American Football Club, that Jorja had her first taste of the non-contact version of American football.
“I said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll give it a go and try it out’,” she says. “And it pretty much took off from there.”
She says it was a bit of a surprise there was a club in the Bay of Plenty.
After a trial, Jorja, along with Tridents clubmates Ellie McMannaway and Grace Havler, was selected for the national high-performance unit (HPU).
Club president Alex Hatwell, who is also the national women’s HPU manager, and coach Jerry Taylor supported Jorja.
The programme will culminate for the national team at the Asia Pacific Intercontinental Tournament in Kuala Lumpur towards the end of the year.
Jorja was in the US with Camp America last year, and while that gave her an interest in American football, she won’t be taking up the full-contact version of the sport after breaking a leg playing rugby in 2020.
“I watch contact, but [playing] doesn’t really interest me because, since I broke my leg, I’ve kind of come away from contact sports.”
Flag football is a fast-paced, non-contact form of American football played by teams of five on small fields. The game focuses on passing and catching skills.
Jorja says she enjoys the sport as it gives players the chance to play in different positions and on both offence and defence teams.
‘’It’s also a different sport for New Zealand as well.”
The club has been running an intra-club competition on Wednesday evenings called the Moana Bowl, which is adding to Jorja’s playing experience.
“At the trial, we also did a lot of footwork, running routes, seeing what we could do with our footwork, and throwing, too,” she says. “Then we were in a game situation for the last two hours of the trial, which gave me an understanding of how to play the game a little bit more.”
Jorja’s rugby career was curtailed by the leg break, but she also plays basketball. At 1.88-metres tall (6 feet, 2 inches), she says her height, speed and strength are her main positive attributes.
She is now looking into the possibility of a scholarship and has been in touch with head flag football coach Ryan Witten at Milligan University in East Tennessee.
“He seems pretty excited about what I can do,” she says.
Alex says Jorja has plenty of things going for her in the sport.
“Her height would be one - she’s got great hands and she catches most things that come her way,” he says.
“If you are looking for the less tangible things, it’s her attitude towards it, her willingness to learn and her enthusiasm - she also looks like she’s having fun out there.
“We are a fringe sport where you pay your own way, so ultimately, that’s what you do if it for - for the fun. To represent your country is pretty special, but you’ve still got to enjoy the thing you are doing.”
After starting the women’s programme just last year, Alex says it is huge for the club to have three athletes selected for the women’s HPU.
“We only really kicked off the women’s programme in August or September last year. It’s something we’ve been talking about doing for a little while, but because we’re such a new club, you can’t do everything at once.”
He says all three players selected have embraced the sport and become great members of the club.
“We are really proud of them.”
The club runs both contact and flag football programmes. Check out the Tridents’ Facebook page for more information.