QB Magazine Athlete Feature
When Renee Duong wrote down her long-term goal — earn a scholarship to play flag football in college — she was describing something that, not long ago, barely existed.
That changed in January. Women’s flag football was voted into the NCAA’s Emerging Sports for Women program at the 2026 NCAA Convention, effective immediately, after approval from all three divisions. In May, the sport advanced again, receiving a formal recommendation for championship status with a projected first NCAA championship in spring 2028 — the same year flag football debuts at the Los Angeles Olympics.
Duong is Class of 2031. The timing is almost absurd in her favor.
One Night
She was a softball player first, and by her own account she still would be if her dad had not asked a question.
“My dad inspired me and asked if I wanted to try football, although I’ve always been a softball player,” the Aprende Middle School quarterback said.
What made it possible was somebody else’s decision entirely. Dion Black, of the Syndicate Flag Football League, was trying to grow the sport for girls and offered all of them free participation in his league. Duong took him up on it.
“I fell in love with the sport after the first night,” she said.
Three years later, she is a quarterback with a national ranking, a training regimen, and a camp résumé that spans five states — California, Texas, Arizona, Washington, and Denver. One free night in a league somebody built on purpose.
Playing Up
Duong’s team is a dominant 12U group, which created a problem her father — who also coaches her — decided to solve directly.
“Coach, my dad, decided to challenge us by registering us in a tournament against 14U teams,” she said.
Two full age divisions is a serious gap at that stage. Bigger, faster, longer arms, more reps.
“Not only did we win against all the 14U teams, we dominated everyone by at least two scores and finished first in pool play, and ultimately won the championship.”
Winning up an age group is one thing. Winning every game by multiple scores is another. That is not an upset — that is a team that was in the wrong division.
Six Months of Losing
The moment she actually names as her biggest challenge is the opposite of that tournament.
When she and her teammates first formed their club team, PHX Future, the results did not come. For close to half a year, they could not win a tournament.
“We were able to overcome it by not focusing on the result and continuing to work and develop our skills,” Duong said.
That is easy to write and extremely hard to do at twelve, when losing feels permanent and every weekend is a referendum. The group stuck with it, and the season ended with PHX Future ranked as high as fourth in the country on Zorts.
Six months of nothing, then a national ranking. Duong tells the story as a lesson about process rather than a comeback, which is the more useful way to hold onto it.
Calm
Ask her what the position requires and the first word is not arm, or speed, or reads.
“I believe that in order to be a great quarterback, you have to be mentally calm under pressure,” she said. “All great quarterbacks must be able to lead their team through adversity and understand all aspects of the game.”
She credits Coach Gil at Slingit QB with building that side of her game as much as the physical one. “Coach Gil is extremely detail oriented,” Duong said. “He shaped me into the QB I am today, not just physically but mentally.”
Her favorite quarterback is Tom Brady, admired for work ethic and leadership rather than anything flashier — a pick that lines up neatly with everything else in her file.
Good Person First
The people she credits above everyone are her parents, and the thing she quotes them on has nothing to do with football.
“My mom has always been there to support me emotionally. My dad has always been my coach in softball and football. Both push me as hard athletically, academically, and at home,” she said. “They always preach: be a good person first, then a student, then athlete.”
Three ranked priorities, in that order, with the sport last. That is a family that has thought about what happens if football does not work out — and, notably, it has produced a kid who is fourth in the country anyway.
Duong is Chinese and Mexican, and she is arriving in the sport at the exact moment it opens up. Her short-term goal is to lead her team to a national appearance at NFL Flag. Her long-term goal is that college scholarship.
Four years ago, that second one would have been a hope. Now it is a plan.
A Note on Memberships
Renee’s record is already worth keeping track of — the 14U championship, the six-month climb to a top-five national ranking, camps across five states.
Heading into the fall, an upgraded QB Magazine membership adds a professionally designed athlete graphic, feature placement across QB Magazine’s channels, and a profile that grows season by season as she does. With college flag football expanding as quickly as it is, having her development documented in one place as it happens means the story is ready whenever it is needed, rather than reconstructed later.
Explore membership options at quarterbackmagazine.com/memberships.
Instagram: @qb_renee21