Courtesy photo
These Hurricanes will bring the storm to the Nevada desert.
The 805 Hurricanes, a youth flag football team of fourth-grade boys from Acorn country, will compete at the NFL Flag Bowl national tournament Feb. 2 to 7 in Las Vegas.
Sean “TJ” Fortier Jr., Luke Dyer, Buddy Samuel, Gavin Ruiz, Dylan Pulisic, Nelson “Q” Townes IV, Ryan Steiner and Thiago Carvalho lead the Hurricanes on the field.
Coaches Sean Fortier and Aaron Dyer will get the players ready to score touchdowns at the NFL Flag Bowl, which features teams from California, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Hawaii and Tennessee.
“I want them to be the best version of themselves, as nothing in life is given to you,” Fortier said. “No excuses and no handouts.”
Hurricane players hail from Agoura, Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Simi Valley, Camarillo and Oxnard. At the NFL-sanctioned event, the squad will represent the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams, who practice at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, will face the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13.
The Hurricanes aren’t playing recreational capture-the-flag games on grassy fields during recess. This group of 9- and 10-year-olds take the sport seriously and want to become the best flag football team in the U.S.
TJ, 9, the son of the coach, creates havoc on the field while lining up at receiver, quarterback, linebacker and safety. TJ picked up a pigskin when he was 4, and he looks up to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The youngster said he likes suiting up alongside his teammates, who learn 20 route formations from their coaches while making audibles at the line of scrimmage.
Sean Fortier’s older son, Nikos Booth-Fortier, was a running back for football teams at Moorpark High and Ventura College who competed in track and field in high school.
The Hurricanes typically practice two or three times a week, so many of the boys have time to play other sports.
“Practice gives you the blueprint of what you have to work on at home,” Fortier said.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
