By John "Woods" Armwood III
From Zoom Calls to Playoff Wins
For Rutgers flag football senior and star Tiffani Nguyen, this season has felt like watching an impossible idea turn into reality. Standing at the National Collegiate Flag Football Tournament after a playoff win, Nguyen reflected on how quickly everything changed for a program that barely existed months earlier.
“We just got a dub,” she said with a smile. “So everything’s great.”
That excitement carried deeper meaning. Rutgers flag football was not built through scholarships, major funding, or instant recognition. It was built through persistence.
At the beginning, the team lacked even the basics.
“There was a point where we didn’t even have uniforms,” Nguyen explained.
Instead, Rutgers started with vision. Nguyen and Rutgers captain Allison Ginlan believed the school could support a competitive women’s flag football program, and they committed themselves to building it from scratch.
“We had interest meetings on Zoom,” Nguyen said. “We did all the marketing ourselves, from Instagram to everything.”
What began as a grassroots effort quickly gained momentum. Roughly 20 girls showed up to the first practice, many of whom had little or no experience in flag football.
Now, Rutgers is winning playoff games.
“It’s just gotten better and better,” Nguyen said. “The growth has been insane.”
Building Something Brick by Brick
What makes Rutgers’ rise even more remarkable is how quickly the players developed together. For many athletes on the roster, this was their first experience with organized flag football. Some had been playing for just a year. Others were completely new to the sport.
Still, the culture created within the program accelerated growth.
“We have so many great teammates,” Nguyen said. “They all care about the sport. They love the sport. They come out, they play hard every single day, and they practice how they play.”
That commitment transformed Rutgers from an idea into a legitimate contender. To Nguyen, success did not happen overnight. It happened brick by brick, practice by practice, teammate by teammate.
The Moment Rutgers Became Real
Every athlete has a defining moment, a realization that something bigger is unfolding.
For Nguyen, that moment arrived during Rutgers’ first fall tournament.
“It had to have been our first tournament,” she said. “A lot of people, it was their first game ever, our first time all playing together, and we showed out.”
That performance shifted belief into certainty.
“I was like, wow,” Nguyen recalled. “This is something special.”
Coach Malls and the Rutgers Standard
Nguyen also credits much of the team’s rapid growth to head coach Mauls, whom she calls the heartbeat of the program.
“He’s been amazing,” she said. “Anything we need, he gets it for us. He comes to every practice. He has so much great advice.”
Her verdict was immediate.
“Coach of the year.”
Why Jersey Matters
Nguyen believes Rutgers’ success reflects something larger about New Jersey itself, a state full of grit, talent, and personalities from every background.
“There’s so many different walks of life here,” she said.
Then, laughing, she delivered her final verdict:
“Jersey is the best country in the world. United States of New Jersey.”
