About

The Toronto Gay Football League (TGFL) exists to give members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community and their allies an opportunity to play the game of flag football regardless of skill or experience in a comfortable, safe and welcoming environment. The Toronto Gay Football League organization consists of TUFF, our sibling league Flags of Glory, and our competitive traveling team. The TGFL is also a member of the National Gay Flag Football league (NGFFL), a sports organization that seeks to promote the positive social and athletic enjoyment of American flag football.

Preseason

During our registration period in early spring, we encourage players of all levels of football experience to sign up. Most of our new players have never played a down of football; as long as you have the desire to play, we want you! Don’t worry, we are more than happy to teach you how to play football. We do require new players to attend one of our pre-season scrimmages to give them a primer on the rules of our league  and to evaluate their football ability. This is done solely to maintain the competitive balance of the league by ensuring that the skill level of players is equivalent on all teams.

Once registration closes, all players (new and returning) are drafted to a team by our friendly captains. This is done to foster the social environment of the league and to keep things fresh year to year. Everyone is then notified of their new team at our Draft Day Party.

League Play

The league year begins towards the end of May and ends with our championship weekend in September. The season typically consists of 12 games played weekly on Sunday between the hours of 12:00 and 5:00 pm. There are league byes (no games) on long weekends and during pride weekend.

Game Locations

TUFF plays their games at Cherry Beach Sports Field.  This waterfront-adjacent location has synthetic turf fields and provides our members with a premium flag football experience. We employ paid referees so you can focus on having fun and playing the game.

We like to be social!

We are committed to enhancing the off-field social experience for our membership. We feel confident that you’ll make new friends in TUFF. We host league-wide theme parties at a common sponsor bar on most weekends after the games. We go all out for our three big events of the year: our Draft Day Party, the Mx. TUFF pageant (our drag night league fund-raiser) and our year-end banquet & awards ceremony!

What you’ll need to play:

You’ll need to bring to games:

  • Cleats (preferred)  or athletic sneakers

We’ll provide you with:

  • A flag football belt
  • Your own jersey to keep

If you want to be a keener(optional equipment):

  • Receiving gloves
  • A football
  • Athletic tights (helps prevent turf burn)

Learn more about cleats in our equipment section