Naturally there will disappointment when a group of 60 athletes are trying out for only 18 places in a world championship caliber squad. And then frustration for a handful more when that group is reduced to 12 elite flag football players.

Sean Moore knows first-hand the elation of making the provisional 18-player roster of the United States men’s national team, and in equal measure the gut-wrenching feeling of not being included in that magical dozen.

Last year, Moore, a former college football wide receiver at the University of Virginia, missed out on a chance to help USA defend its IFAF Flag Football World Championships crown in Finland. He was included in the 18-player group then final cuts held him in reserve, but not on the plane to Lahti.

This year, he’s back, hoping that his offseason program and tryouts performance will earn inclusion among those defending the IFAF Americas Flag Football Continental Championships this summer.

“As an athlete, I always think that whether you take wins or losses, they're all learning lessons,” says Moore. “Sometimes you win and those are great times but sometimes you lose, or things don't go your way exactly. You have to take a step back and be willing to look at your process look at how you schedule things and find little things here and there that you can tweak to get better.

“I do a lot of yoga to make sure I'm in the right mental space always to be able to attack the day, attack my workouts. Last year wasn't enough for me to make it, so I have to be better.”

While competition for places is fierce – and at receiver, Moore is going up against the likes of established USA stars Bruce Mapp, Laderrick Smith and Ja’Deion High – there is a camaraderie among the rival athletes.

“We do a really great job of pushing one another,” explains Moore. “As much as competition can get fiery, we also understand that iron sharpens iron, so we're out here to help each other. We're not out here to bicker and argue or anything like that. We're positive all the time and we want to see each other get better while understanding that we're competing for spots.”

Moore arguably possesses an advantage over newcomers to the tryouts, or those who fell at the first hurdle last year. Being a member of the overall 18-man squad in 2024, he practiced with the team up until their departure for Finland, where USA successfully won a fifth successive IFAF gold medal.

“That allowed me to bond with the team especially as some of the guys joke around that I'm one of the younger ones and that last year was like my rookie year,” says the 24-year-old. “Getting to spend time with them, bond, learn about the Team USA trial, just learn from the older ones who have done this for a long time.

“I got to learn how they have stayed consistent as the champions that they are, and I got to watch them day in day out and see the pride they bring to the game, the passion and how they carry themselves right. Those are all great things that I was blessed enough to get to learn last year. Everyone is fantastic and that absolutely helps me feel at home and that helps me perform at the end of the day.”

If Moore is selected to represent his country in the IFAF Americas continental championships, one family member who never misses an opportunity to support him will be in attendance. His mom Shana has been there from his first-ever flag football game at the age of five to high school to his time at the University of Viriginia.

 “My mom is my best friend, she is my rock, my everything in the world,” Sean says. “I absolutely know that she will not miss (the tournament). My grandparents will be there and for me that just means everything.

“Getting to put on a show for my mom is always something that is special to me. Any time I play sports you want to put on a show but any time my mom is in the building I know I'm going to put on a show because I owe that to her and everything we've worked for to get to where we are now.”

Everything Sean Moore has worked for now hinges on the coaches of the US men’s national team as they decide who has earned the coveted spots on those 18 and 12-player rosters.