New head coach Tommaso Monardi faces a baptism of fire when he leads his Italian women’s flag football national team into competition for the first time this summer.

Italy opens its campaign at The World Games against European champions Great Britain in Chengdu, then comes up against familiar opponents in reigning champions Mexico, followed by bronze medalists at the 2024 world championships Japan. Italy lost to Mexico and Japan in the group stages of The World Games in 2022, posting a 3-1 record before bowing out in the quarterfinals.

“They're great teams that are setting a new standard,” says Monardi of the accomplished opponents. “All three teams are consistently showing great mindsets and attitude on the field, so will it be a good challenge on both sides of the ball.

“We will focus on ourselves, which I know it is a repetitive phrase in this era, but just do your job and trust the plan. We will focus on doing things the right way and then it’s more likely that good things are going to happen. We’ll have ups and downs but will just stay together as a group and will always keep fighting.”

Monardi has overseen tryouts for potentially talented players to join those who reached the quarterfinals of the world championships in Finland having posted a 2-2 record in the group stages, beating Korea and Denmark. Along with assistant coaches Leonardo Franchi and Omar Passera, the Italian coaching staff has focused on a smaller group of participants to ensure they get more reps and a thorough evaluation.

“When you’re starting a new cycle, you want to have a clear vision of the athletes and give the opportunity to everybody to show what they can do,” says Monardi, who still plays flag football himself, as a quarterback for the Parma Nador team, having first enjoyed playing as a child. He has been the head coach of the Parma Panthers women’s team since February 2024.

The demands of competing at two tournaments – The World Games in August and Euro Flag 2025 in September in Paris – has created challenges for the eight nations who will participate in both China and France. Some are selecting a final 12 players from overall squads of 16 athletes, while others are considering increasing the size of their national team pool to field differing rosters for each event.

“I feel like The World Games is going to be a tough situation, so we’ll need to pick up the level from the very first game because you’re competing with proven teams over there,” says Monardi. “I think we’re going to find out what kind of team we are and what kind of adjustment we need to make going into the European Championships. Preparing for two competitions in a span of a month will be tough but I’m confident we’re going to do a good job as a coaching staff.”

Monardi knows all about success from his playing days. As a quarterback in tackle football, he led the Parma Panthers to three Italian Football League championships (2011, 2012, 2013), having first played in the club’s junior program when he was 13. That success earned Monardi Italian national team honors from 2009 to 2018.

Now he aims for that winning mentality to rub off on the national team when they come up against some of the world’s top teams in China.

Photo: IFAF