World second place winner! Tec Coach triumphs at NFL tournament

Jesús del Río coaches the Steel Flag Club flag football academy, which came second in the Under-12 category at the NFL International Flag Football tournament which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The NFL International Flag Football tournament is organized by the National Football League with the aim of promoting flag football and football and includes teams from all over the world.

Jesús “Gigio” del Río is currently head coach of the Borregos Flag Football program at the Tec’s Saltillo Campus and of his academy, which he founded in 2010 and where he trains more than 300 children from public and private schools across the city.

“My academy was founded 13 years ago, and we’ve won nine national championships in that category (under-12),” said the coach.

World second place winners

According to the coach, the tournament consisted of a series of local, regional, national, and international qualifiers. His team won all the nationals, qualifying them for a place at the world finals.

“More than 10,000 players were eliminated during the nationals. The 10 that made the classification were my kids,” he confirmed.

Qualifying for the world finals meant Gigio and his team had to face teams from nine other countries: Ghana, Germany, Japan, Canada, China, the United States, Italy, England, and Australia.

They won all their games and managed to reach the final against Canada; the score in that game was 21-14 to Canada.

“All the countries were cheering us on because there was a huge difference in height between the Canadian players and my kids,” Gigio said about the final.

“I’m very proud to have helped them excel nationally and internationally.”

Congratulations from NFL all-stars

As a result of their outstanding participation, after the tournament Gigio and his team were invited to the Pro Bowl, a match that takes place between NFL all-stars each season.

At the match, they were congratulated for their effort during the tournament by different NFL teams, such as the Steelers, Raiders, and Cowboys.

“Two countries approached me with interest in us coaching their youth flag football programs,” added Del Río.

Gigio mentioned that Diana Flores, the current Mexican flag football quarterback and graduate of Tec’s Santa Fe campus, said some words to the team about the opportunities for young people within flag football.

“I’m very proud to have helped them excel nationally and internationally,” he concluded.

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